The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society

by David J. Rothman

Book Overview

The word "prison" immediately evokes stark images: forbidding walls spiked with watchtowers; inmates confined to cramped cells for hours on end; the suspicious eyes of armed guards. They seem to be the inevitable and permanent marks of confinement, as though prisons were a timeless institution stretching from medieval stone dungeons to the current era of steel boxes. But centuries of development and debate lie behind the prison as we now know it--a...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195061535
• ISBN13: 9780195061536
• Release Date: November 1995
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 2.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 7.9" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Can't imagine......

a better overall history of this subject. If you need just one book...........Grab it!

Excellent Anthology

The Oxford History of the Prison - The Practice of Punishment in Western Society is an excellent compendium of essays chronicaling the practice of punishment from Ancient to Medieval times and today. I highly recommend this history for anyone interested in the history of what is today called "incarceration" in our society. It brings to light the changing attitudes and ideals of what constitutes punishment (and crime).