The Roots of Evil: A Social History of Crime and Punishment

Capa
Sutton, 2003 - 524 páginas
In this age of burgeoning prison populations, of fascination with details of crime whether by psychopaths or politicians, this re-issue of Christopher Hibbert's classic social history of crime and punishment is timely. The author's immensely readable narrative takes the reader through the lurid story of crime, detection, conviction and punishment. He discusses murder as a lust and murder as a trade: mutilation, torture, lynching and flogging: the guillotine, the gallows and the gas chamber; outlaws of the forest and the street; the Surete, Scotland Yard and the FBI; sexual crimes, police corruption and under-age offenders. From the Dark Ages to the measured steps to the reform of penal sanctions of more recent years, this balanced guide to society's ills is a compelling read.Throughout, Hibbert argues that cruel punishments will inevitably have the effect of creating cruelty. There is no book like Hibbert's currently available: intelligent, wide-ranging and accessible. The issues of crime and punishment and of society's responsibilities in this regard continue to be debated and popular culture seems to be obsessed with crime. Liverpool University reports something like a hundred applicants for every place on its criminal profiling course. Hibbert's engrossing and eminently balanced account has never been more timely.

Outras edições - Ver tudo

Acerca do autor (2003)

Christopher Hibbert: March 5, 1924 -- December 21, 2008 Historian Christopher Hibbert was born as Arthur Raymond Hibbert in Enderby, England in 1924. He dropped out of Oriel College to join the Army. He served with the London Irish Rifles and won the Military Cross. He earned a degree in history in 1948. Before becoming a full-time nonfiction writer, he worked as a real estate agent and a television critic for Truth magazine. He wrote more than 60 books throughout his lifetime including The Road to Tyburn (1957), Il Duce: The Life of Benito Mussolini(1962), George IV: Prince of Wales, 1762-1811 (1972), and George IV: Regent and King, 1812-1830 (1973). Hibbert was awarded the Heinemann Award for Literature in 1962 for The Destruction of Lord Raglan. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Geographical Society, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by the University of Leicester. He died from bronchial pneumonia on December 21, 2008 at the age of 84.

Informação bibliográfica