- Hardcover: 130 pages
- Publisher: The History Press Ltd (19 Jan 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0750938951
- ISBN-13: 978-0750938952
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 424,645 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The hellish noise, the roaring, swelling and clamour, the stench and nastiness, an emblem of hell itself. - Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe. There have been more prisons in London than in any other European city. Of these, Newgate was the largest, most notorious and worst. Built during the twelfth century, it became a legendary place, the inspiration of more poems, plays and novels than any other building in London. It was a place of cruelty and wretchedness, at various times holding Dick Turpin, Titus Oates, Daniel Defoe, Jack Sheppard and Casanova. Because prisons were privately run, any time spent in prison had to be paid for by the prisoner. Housing varied from a private cell with a cleaning woman and a visiting prostitute, to simply lying on the floor with no cover. Those who died inside, and only a quarter of prisoners survived until their execution day, had to stay in Newgate as a rotting corpse until relatives found the money for the body to be released. Stephen Halliday tells the story of Newgate's origins, the criminals it held, the punishments meted out and its rebuilding and reform. This is a compelling slice of London's social and criminal history.
About the Author
Stephen Halliday is an expert on the history of London and the author of two outstanding works on social history, The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis and Underground to Everywhere: London's Underground in the Life of the Capital.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book gives an excellent account of life through the centuries at Newgate prison. It illustrates how the gaol operated, the various levels of discomfort available subject to ones wealth & thankfully doesn't dwell too much on the various forms of torture on offer.
It gives a great insight into life in general over the last few centuries and how our ever-changing penal code impacts on society in general.
Definitely worth a read.
It gives a great insight into life in general over the last few centuries and how our ever-changing penal code impacts on society in general.
Definitely worth a read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was an interesting book, all about the history of Newgate Prison in London. Each chapter took a different aspect of it, i.e. punishment, sentencing, reform etc, and discussed that. It's similar in style to Catherine Arnold's "Bedlam", but not really quite as good. It had some really interesting stories in it, but it was written in quite a simplistic style and I found that some of the quotes were repeated quite a few times, which was a bit annoying. So overall it was an interesting read, recommended if you don't know anything about Newgate, but there are better books on the subject.
45 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Between October '92 and March 2000, I was employed as a court attendant at the Old Bailey,and whenever you ventured into certain parts of the building, you felt you were far from alone. There was a cold, horrible, I-don't-want-to-be-here-a-moment-longer feeling, and I worked hard to find out why, when it was such a lovely building to work in.
This book has filled in the gaps, and now I realised I was probably walking over someone's grave. Someone who died, unloved, uncared for and unknown from diseases too horrible to contemplate.
Yet, to many, Newgate was the face of civilised incarceration for the wrongdoer.
Read this book and next time you walk past the Old Bailey, stop, think, and wonder - "Who is buried beneath me"?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Worth Reading
A previous reviewer compared the book unfavourably against Bedlam: London and Its Mad but I prefered this book to the other. Bedlam seemed dry in its writing style. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Tim Futter
Newgate London's Prototype of Hell
An excellent book, thrilling read from cover to cover, full of useful information that you would never associate with Newgate.
Published 23 months ago by C. Sidwell
Prototype of a Hell of a good book.
After the reading tantalising references to Newgate Gaol in Catharine Arnold's book 'Bedlam, London and its mad' I searched Amazon for more information on the worst gaol in the... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2010 by A. D. Collins
NEWGATE
Very interesting book giving detailed history of Newgate prison. Very much enjoyed reading it.
Published on 21 July 2009 by Frances
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