Sir Leon Radzinowicz is one of the key figures in the development of criminology in the 20th century, working as an academic criminologist, an adviser to government, and as the founding director of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. This account of the development of criminology intertwines his personal narrative as a criminologist with the development of criminology itself. From a long career spanning 70 years from the 1920s to the late 1990s, he offers an overview of the changing understanding of crime and criminals, of criminal justice systems and penology, and of the tensions and dilemmas these pose for democratic societies. His own work as a scholar, adviser to governments, and the founding director of the first criminological research institute in Britain results in this book offering a well informed account of the intellectual and institutional history of criminology in Britain and Europe, and its place within a wider comparative perspective.

Sir Leon Radzinowicz is one of the key figures in the development of criminology in the twentieth century. This account of the development of criminology intertwines his personal narrative as a criminologist with the progression of criminology itself. His experience gained from a career which has spanned 70 years since the 1920s, offers a profound overview of how the understanding of crime and criminals, of criminal justice systems and penology has changed, and of the tensions and dilemmas these pose for democratic societies.