Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-tn8tq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-15T17:25:03.542Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Foreword

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2023

Edited by
Get access

Summary

You might think that the history of a prison would make dull reading. But not so with this study of Bedford Prison, over two centuries, finishing one-hundred years ago. The author Eric Stockdale has made a fascinating story. He gives a fine picture of five great men who were closely associated with the prison. He starts, of course, with John Bunyan, the tinker, telling us of his trial. He goes on to John Howard, the great advocate of penal reform. Then to Samuel Whitbread, Philip Hunt and Lord John Russell. He describes the jails: their building and rebuilding: and the way of life in them. He discusses the punishments and their effect. Transportation among them. But not as a bare recital of facts. At every step — and on every page — you will find the enlivening anecdote and the apt quotation. The research must have taken many hours to collect the material. The presentation — in such clear and vivid language — is a model which all historians should try to emulate. And all this done by a Circuit Judge — in the midst of his busy life sending the criminals of today to prison — as his predecessors did to Bedford prison in days long past. His work at the Bar and as a judge, has, I am sure, been of great value to him in the writing of this book. His knowledge of modern conditions enables him to have a better insight into the conditions of the past. This is a book which deserves to be read, not only by criminologists, penologists and historians, but also by ordinary folk who like to read a good true story.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
First published in: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Foreword
  • Edited by Eric Stockdale
  • Book: Bedford Prison 1660-1877
  • Online publication: 03 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800107441.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Foreword
  • Edited by Eric Stockdale
  • Book: Bedford Prison 1660-1877
  • Online publication: 03 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800107441.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Foreword
  • Edited by Eric Stockdale
  • Book: Bedford Prison 1660-1877
  • Online publication: 03 August 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781800107441.001
Available formats
×