Originally published in 1985, Imprisonment in England and Wales is an account of the changing functions and conditions of imprisonment in England and Wales from the Medieval period to the present day. It is designed both as a text for students and teachers of history, law and social science and as an introduction to the subject for more general readers and is one of the few attempts to provide an overall view of the institution of imprisonment in this country over a period of several centuries. The authors have made use of original sources and other research to provide an accessible account of the subject, combining essential factual detail with an analysis of the use of imprisonment. It is therefore particularly of interest to those approaching the subject for the first time and is also intended to provide guidance for further research into particular areas of the subject. The authors draw upon their respective knowledge of four main periods to show how imprisonment has performed a number of different functions: the punishment and reform of convicted offenders, the coercion of debtors, the custody of persons awaiting trial and more generally the containment of society’s undesirables. At the same time, the institution of imprisonment is put into the context of wider social, political and economic forces, and related to the development of an increasingly centralised and incursive system of criminal law, as well as to the use and disuse of other forms of punishment and legal control. This discussion is supported by an account of the characteristics of prisons, the problems of administration and the implementation of penal and reformative policy.

Land of White Gloves? is an important academic investigation into the history of crime and punishment in Wales. Beginning in the medieval period when the limitations of state authority fostered a law centred on kinship and compensation, the study explores the effects of the introduction of English legal models, culminating in the Acts of Union under Henry VIII. It reveals enduring traditions of extra-legal dispute settlement rooted in the conditions of Welsh Society. The study examines the impact of a growing bureaucratic state uniformity in the nineteenth century and concludes by examining the question of whether distinctive features are to be found in patterns of crime and the responses to it into the twentieth century. Dealing with matters as diverse as drunkenness and prostitution, industrial unrest and linguistic protests and with punishments ranging from social ostracism to execution, the book draws on a wide range of sources, primary and secondary, and insights from anthropology, social and legal history. It presents a narrative which explores the nature and development of the state, the theoretical and practical limitations of the criminal law and the relationship between law and the society in which it operates. The book will appeal to those who wish to examine the relationships between state control and social practice and explores the material in an accessible way, which will be both useful and fascinating to those interested in the history of Wales and of the history of crime and punishment more generally.

Land of White Gloves? is an important academic investigation into the history of crime and punishment in Wales. Beginning in the medieval period when the limitations of state authority fostered a law centred on kinship and compensation, the study explores the effects of the introduction of English legal models, culminating in the Acts of Union under Henry VIII. It reveals enduring traditions of extra-legal dispute settlement rooted in the conditions of Welsh Society. The study examines the impact of a growing bureaucratic state uniformity in the nineteenth century and concludes by examining the question of whether distinctive features are to be found in patterns of crime and the responses to it into the twentieth century. Dealing with matters as diverse as drunkenness and prostitution, industrial unrest and linguistic protests and with punishments ranging from social ostracism to execution, the book draws on a wide range of sources, primary and secondary, and insights from anthropology, social and legal history. It presents a narrative which explores the nature and development of the state, the theoretical and practical limitations of the criminal law and the relationship between law and the society in which it operates. The book will appeal to those who wish to examine the relationships between state control and social practice and explores the material in an accessible way, which will be both useful and fascinating to those interested in the history of Wales and of the history of crime and punishment more generally.

Decorative plasterwork was created by skilled craftsmen, and for over four hundred years it has been an essential part of the interior decoration of the British country house. In this detailed and comprehensive study, Geoffrey Beard has created a book that will delight the eye and inform the interested reader. For those who have sometimes been puzzled by the complexities of plaster decoration it will be a most useful work of reference on a fascinating art form, about which no book has been published for nearly fifty years. After discussing the part that patrons played in commissioning and financing these beautiful decorations, a useful chapter is devoted to materials and methods of work and here the author describes the ingredients of good plaster; he has studied the work of present-day English plasterers and Swiss stucco-restorers in order to establish precisely how the materials of plaster and stucco were composed and used.

The Longways broke him, but Rift was already cracked. Trapped as a child in the glittering cage of autism, his past life is cut out as a brutal cure on the world of Edria. An impurity in a pure place, he is the last hope for its dying god Setti. Manipulated and empowered by her, he can choose to save Edria when she dies. But it is a choice between sacrifices.