A Prison Diary (Hardcover)

The book opened my eyes to the many injustices of the prison system, and made me cry at some of the chilling accounts. I was previously blissfully ignorant, and for this reason Mr Archer's book makes a valuable contribution. I'm not in any doubt that criminals should be punished, but there seem to be glaring flaws in the system, which Jeffery Archer is now equipped to articulate, and bring to our attention. If only for this reason, the book demands to be read.

I felt some sympathy for the humiliation of the author despite his misconduct, but I was disappointed to see no mention of remorse or shame for his crime. Indeed the book is often used as a launchpad to air his many grievances, a lot of them personal. Despite this sad omission, the book is very readable, and you cannot help being gripped by the account of mindless daily life in Belmarsh. There is a rare snapshot view of a regime completely unknown to many of us, which is all the more poignent because of the real-life characters.

His frank and sometimes moving account of life inside was one of the most fascinating books of the year.

Not always sympathetic, sometimes over didactic, sometimes very disturbing, Jeffrey this time has produced a weighty book, putting hard questions to the prison service, the Home Secretary and to our own consciences.

Buy it!

In reading it, one has to learn to ignore the continual hard-done-by attitude of Archer. He consistently pleads his innocence, despite his guilt being indisputable, and complains about the 'bias' of the trial judge. We are treated to a stream of commentary about the judge's summing-up, and as if that's not enough, Archer tells us all about the letters he receives sympathising with him and agreeing that he has been treated unfairly (he doesn't mention any correspondence which says that he got what he deserved!). He also name-drops constantly in relation to 'famous' people who are apparently on his side.

He also has to name-drop in relation to fellow prisoners, so we hear about Ronnie Biggs, the Great Train Robber, who is also in Belmarsh, and also Barry George, on remand at the time awaiting trial for the murder of Jill Dando. In this respect, it is hard to understand how the book got published; it is apparently against Home Office rules to identify serving prisoners in this way.

All that aside, there are some telling insights into prison life which deserve wider reading. For instance, Archer puts forward a vigorous argument against sending those convicted of minor offences and serving short terms to a high-security prison such as Belmarsh. The young man serving six weeks for breaking a red light is a telling example: he is being put under severe pressure to murder the witness in another prisoner's trial, once he is released. Another short-term prisoner was persuaded to try heroin for the first time while in Belmarsh, and within a couple of days is addicted: so when he is released once his six weeks are up, how will he fund his addiction?

There are certainly lessons to be learned about the prison culture and the criminal justice system from Archer's book, and given the author's reputation as a novelist, this book is sure to get a wide circulation. However, it is far from being the best critical account of prison life in recent years; I would recommend that anyone wishing to read a less egotistical and melodramatic account might look for Erwin James' A Life Inside, also available from amazon.co.uk.