This was accessible and written in a chatty, informal style that made it easy to read BUT I already know a fair bit about 18th and 19th century London so I feel like there wasn’t much in here that was new to me. I would have liked more detail on the early years of Newgate, but it was clear that there wasn’t that much on the historical record so Jowett kind of cruised through until the 1700s without providing much detail.

And for a book that was meant to be divvied up by time period, there was a lot of confusing leaping around when it came to what happened when.

I enjoyed the mini biographies of specific criminals, but again it mostly left me wanting more detail.

An excellent starting point for someone with an interest in historical crime and punishment, though! ( )

Book received from NetGalley.

This is a book on Newgate, from when they first decided to build a new prison in London to when they decommissioned it and tore it down. They go through the changes made it the prison from the poorest prisoners having to beg to get money for food and sleeping on floors with rats crawling on them. To the later eras when prisoners had to be treated well, get at least one meal with mostly clean areas to sleep and medical care. It also discusses the famous prisoners held in the prison and which of those were released, transported or hung. I enjoyed reading it, I had known about Newgate from the various history books I've read. However, I had never know more than the basics of it and the prisoners confined in it. I think this is a good book for a starting point on wanting to know more about criminal history in London. ( )