Russian Prisons

Griffiths, Arthur, 1838-1908Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 407K words
Chapters: 41

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Russian Prisons by Arthur GriffithsAuthor: Griffiths, Arthur, 1838-1908,Language: English, Class: HV: Social sciences: Social pathology, Social and Public Welfare, Release Date: Aug 30, 2016

Editor's review

This book is Arthur Griffiths's investigative account of the Russian prison system, published as part of Project Gutenberg's free eBooks in the social pathology category. Its value lies not in literary merit but in offering a Victorian Englishman's window onto Russian justice and imprisonment: prison spaces, administrative systems, and the plight of inmates are all covered, making it raw material—vivid yet marked by period prejudice—for the study of Russian history, comparative penal history, and prison-reform discourse. The prose carries the narrative appeal of nineteenth-century reportage, interspersed with cases and observations, so it is not dull. Today's reader should note the author's position and limitations as a foreign observer and not treat the work as a neutral social-science report. Best read as supplementary material for topical study, ideally alongside Russian literary writings on exile and penal servitude.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Russian history, justice, and prison-system history
Students of penal history or comparative social institutions
Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century documentary travel and investigative reports
Russian-literature and history enthusiasts seeking primary-source supplements

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic contemporary penology
Casual readers wanting light novel-style narrative
Readers unwilling to tolerate the biases of a nineteenth-century foreign observer

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and concluding chapters first to grasp the author's framework, then return to specific cases.
Keep a map of Russia or a historical timeline at hand to locate places and periods mentioned.
Read alongside prison and exile writings by Dostoevsky and other Russian authors to compare perspectives.
Mark the author's value judgments as you read, distinguishing factual account from period bias.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or nonfiction?

It is nineteenth-century author Griffiths's documentary account of Russian prisons, a social-science work rather than fiction, though it includes the author's personal observations and period judgments.

Can I read it if my English is weak?

The original is in English and is a public-domain eBook. Readers with basic English can use a dictionary or a parallel translation to read selected key chapters rather than going word by word.

What background knowledge do I need before reading?

Some familiarity with nineteenth-century Russian society and judicial reform helps—at minimum, a basic grasp of serfdom, exile, and penal servitude.

Comments

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About the author

Griffiths, Arthur, 1838-1908 Author

Arthur Griffiths (1838–1908) was a British author with twenty works held in this collection. Public information about his life is limited, and biographical details are difficult to verify, but his subjects show a lasting interest in prisons and criminal history. His best-known work, Chronicles of Newgate, traces the history of that famous prison and its inmates in successive volumes, while Prisons Over Seas and Russian Prisons turn to penal conditions in other countries, reflecting a sustained concern with justice and punishment. He also wrote fiction, including The Rome Express and A Son of Mars, the former unfolding its plot aboard a train and the latter, published in volumes, coloured by adventure and soldierly life. His writing stands between historical reporting and popular narrative, well grounded and fluently told, and remains useful for the study of modern prison history and crime literature.