Prison History Research Articles

Inner Prison of the NKGB (MGB, KGB) of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic 1944–1959

This study discloses the 1944-1959 period history of the inner prison of NKGB (Narodny Komissariat Gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti, English translation – The People‘s Commissariat for State Security) of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, including MGB (Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, English translation – the Ministry for State Security) and KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, English translation – Committee for State Security) as users of this prison. The significance of this prison in the common system of prisons under State Security Institutions is analysed as well as the cases of collaboration with the prisons operating under Ministry of Internal Affairs. Inner prison routine is analysed: living conditions of prisoners, regime, etc. Direct links between the work of the Interrogation Division of the NKGB (MGB, KGB) of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and inner prison are disclosed, as well as the procedure of execution at the inner prison. The inner prison was the most important prison of the Soviet secret police organization (Cheka) in Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic – political prisoners of special importance were imprisoned there and interrogated in the Interrogation Division located in the same building. In the first post-war years, the inner prison was overcrowded, and prison conditions were poor. They improved just at the end of the fifth decade, because the number of imprisoned persons decreased, and bunks were installed in the cells. In the first post-war decade, during interrogation sessions, employees at the Interrogation Division used to apply not only psychological violence against prisoners, but physical violence as well. In 1953, officially, physical torture measures were prohibited, still cases of physical torturing of prisoners happened even much later. In the period 1944–1969, death sentences were carried out in the inner prison. Over one quarter of the last century, 1 019 persons were executed. Although an official method of carrying out the capital punishment used to be squad firing, the investigation of remains of those executed and buried in the burial grounds in Tuskulėnai, show that people who had been sentenced to death penalty, sometimes, during first post-war years at least, were just tortured to death.

Beyond Borders: A Global Comparison of Euthanasia Laws

Euthanasia, the planned termination of someone's life to alleviate struggle, continues to be a debatable and ethically complicated problem globally. Within this elaborate internet of perspectives, the worldwide landscape sees the legalization and regulation of euthanasia followed by various countries. This paper explores the difficult panorama of euthanasia laws, evaluating the location of India and international perspectives, as the requests for euthanasia increase internationally due to various medical, socio-emotional, and existential elements. Laws on euthanasia are taken up by nations that allow such practice, despite conditional legalization, including the UK, and existence assist withdrawal is allowed within the United States. Following the Aruna Shanbaug case, India shifted its legal role, supplying conditional acceptance of passive euthanasia. However, lively euthanasia remains to watch for parliamentary dialogue. Addressing requests for euthanasia could want a nuanced method, mixed with individualized palliative care. This paper provides a bridge between India's regulatory framework and global strategies and is enriched with the aid of the complexities of euthanasia legal guidelines. The prison history of euthanasia in India has witnessed profound adjustments through the years, marked by seminal judicial judgments and legislative discussions. At Gift, India has no precise regulation around euthanasia. It is, however, a count number of files that in 2018, the Supreme Court of India gave a landmark judgment mentioning that the idea of 'proper to die' belongs to the domain of fundamental rights below Article 21 of the Constitution. The judgment made active euthanasia criminal, and it laid down tips approximately its implementation, including that which incorporates a dwelling will and which has also made provision for having a medical board involved.

Hcv Reinfection in Active Drug Users from Facts to Explanations and Possible Solutions

Background and Aims: Perpignan (in south of France) was 600 000 people very low-income area. Main sociological characteristics associated, many homeless and drugs users local insecurity therefore low-price cocaine, national attractiveness for consumers and traffickers, overconsumption with these lower price, local manufacture of cannabis and road transport effects redistribution of drugs purchased in Spain. This was the only place where coke rail was sold under 5 dollars, 50% lower than the price in the rest of France. Mobile hepatitis team (MHT) was created in 2013 and cured about 1000 HCV patients in an outreach and test to cure approach. MHT used HCV POCT, HCV real time viral load, liver fibrosis measure by FIBROSCAN and nurse DAA prescription. For 2 years, MHT observed increase of reinfections. Method: Observational and Sociological Study of HCV Reinfections. Results: In 2023, MHT (nurses (44%) and hepatologist (56%) prescriptions) treated 89 HCV patients: men 68%, mean age 46 years, reinfection rate 21%. This rate was higher (31%) in patients treated by nurses. They were younger, more often homeless, and active drugs users. A clinical psychological study by patients’ interview showed than reinfected patients were younger, lower educational level, more often homeless, with history of psychiatric illnesses and prison. There was no correlation with precariousness score. More the patient thinks that he was responsible for his illness, the more impulsive he was (dimension urgency emotional impulsiveness). More the patient was aware of the consequences of his illness, the more impulsive he was (dimension urgency emotional impulsivity). The more impulsive the patient was (total score, emergency emotional impulsivity dimension), higher the neuroticism score (negativist personality trait). We individualized 2 specific groups of reinfected patients : gypsies in prison and homeless in the city. More the patient participates in harm reduction workshops, the more he feels responsible for his illness and the consequences of his illness, with magical thoughts about his contamination. The paradoxical outcome was people reinfected had more risk and harm reduction sessions after first infection. There was no fear about DAA treatment as HCV interferon and ribavirin treatment. DAA are always well tolerated and efficient, even in reinfection. Conclusion: Direct-acting antivirals are an effective tool for the treatment of hepatitis C virus, enabling the elimination of the virus. However, some patients who have been successfully treated with direct-acting antivirals are at risk of reinfection. Our findings showed that the risk of reinfection was highest among people with ractive injection drug use..In low-income population exposed to cocaine and other low price drugs, HCV reinfection was a trivialized life event. For reduce it, MHT had set up 3 specific projects: 1. home screening in gypsy women and neighborhood 2. Peers fingersticks HCV screening in homeless people and orientation of HCV positive patients to MHT 3. Prison zero hepatitis program with all HCV inmates same time treatment. Combination of these projects reduced to 22% rate of HCV reinfection in active drugs users during first quarter of their deployment.

Rejecting Defeat and Approaching Liberation: Palestinian Prisoners’ Hunger Strikes

Hunger strikes have been central to the ways in which Palestinian prisoners confront the Israeli carceral regime; demand changes in the ways prisons are run; and demand their most basic rights. Indeed, the earliest documented hunger strike dates to as early as 1968, with demands that included refusals to address Israeli jailers with ‘sir', and having access to pens and notebooks. The recent martyrdom of Khader Adnan on his eighty-seventh day of a hunger strike against his detention highlighted both Palestinian prisoners' continuous resort to hunger strikes, and Israeli violent responses to this act of confrontation whenever it is used by prisoners. Hunger strikes have been analysed and discussed by multiple scholars to shed light on this practice both in Palestine and other global sites of carcerality. The literature on hunger strikes, however, is abundant with analysis that draws on the concepts of biopolitics and necropolitics. Applying these concepts involves conceptualising prisons as sites intended for the civil and social death of prisoners, or depicts prisoners as bare life and objects of modes of management over their life and death. Yet, an approach that centres the power over life and death, and that presents freedom or its negation as that of the moment of approaching death, falls into a trap that Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daka (2021) warns of in his brief discussion of hunger strikes [from a text read as part of a conference on carcerality, entitled ‘Control Through Time']. Such an analysis, for instance, views death as the sole space over which the captive body has power, as Achille Mbmebe argues in ‘Necropolitics'. My article, however, seeks to investigate and discuss Palestinian prisoners' recourse to hunger strikes in a different vein. To conceptualise hunger strikes and their history in Palestine, the article argues that one has to situate the practice as part of an ever-evolving repertoire of prisoners' responses aiming to constitute political subjectivities that reject defeat, that dream and work for liberation, and that constantly counter attempts at moulding consciousness. Hunger strikes offer yet another example of prisoners' attempts to smuggle freedom from the confines of their cells. The article will engage with the long history of Palestinian prisoners' hunger strikes (collective and individual), with prisoners' own descriptions of hunger strikes, and with several theoretical and conceptual understandings of hunger strikes to shed light on this practice’s political meanings. In doing so, the article hopes to situate hunger strikes within the broader sets of confrontation practices used by Palestinian prisoners, and which constantly dream, and work for, a liberated geography.

Predicting Risk of Heroin Overdose, Remission, Use, and Mortality Using Ensemble Learning Methods in a Cohort of People with Heroin Dependence

AbstractDespite decades of research demonstrating the effectiveness of treatments for heroin dependence, rates of heroin use, dependence, and death have dramatically increased over the past decade. While evidence has highlighted a range of risk and protective factors for relapse, remission, and other outcomes, this presents clinicians with the challenge as to how to synthesise and integrate the evolving evidence-base to guide clinical decision-making and facilitate the provision of personalised healthcare. Using data from the 11-year follow-up of the Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS), we aimed to develop a clinical risk prediction model to assist clinicians calculate the risk of a range of heroin-related outcomes at varying follow-up intervals for their clients based on known risk factors. Between 2001 and 2002, 615 people with heroin dependence were recruited as part of a prospective longitudinal cohort study. An ensemble machine learning approach was applied to predict risk of heroin use, remission, overdose, and mortality at 1-, 5-, and 10 + year post-study entry. Variables most consistently ranked in the top 10 in terms of their level of importance across outcomes included age; age first got high, used heroin, or injected; sexual trauma; years of school completed; prison history; severe mental health disability; past month criminal involvement; and past month benzodiazepine use. This study provides clinically relevant information on key risk factors associated with heroin use, remission, non-fatal overdose, and mortality among people with heroin dependence, to help guide clinical decision-making in the selection and tailoring of interventions to ensure that the ‘right treatment’ is delivered to the ‘right person’ at the ‘right time’.

Patterns of Health-related Quality of Life in Men Who Inject Drugs: A Survey in Southeast Iran.

Understanding patterns of quality of life in people who inject drugs (PWID) can help healthcare providers plan and manage their health problems in a more focused manner. Therefore, the current study aimed to identify patterns of health-related quality of life in PWID in southeast Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in southeast Iran on men who had injected drugs at least once during the last year. We used convenience sampling in 2 drop-in centers and venue-based sampling at 85 venues. Demographic characteristics, high-risk behaviors, and health-related quality of life were evaluated using the 5-level EQ-5D version (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire. Latent profile analysis was used to identify patterns of quality of life. This study enrolled 398 PWID, who had a mean age of 34.1±11.4 years. About 47.9% reported a prison history in the last 10 years, 59.2% had injected drugs in the last month, and 31.6% had a history of sharing syringes. About 46.3% reported having 2 or more sexual partners in the last 6 months, and 14.7% had a history of sex with men. Out of the 5 EQ-5D-5L profiles, the fifth profile had the most people (36.6%). Most variations in quality of life were related to pain and discomfort. We showed that the pain and discomfort dimension of EQ-5D-5L had more variation in PWID. This finding will be useful for allocating appropriate interventions and resources to promote health-related quality of life in this population.

Analysis of the Epidemiological Trend of Tuberculosis in Sistan and Baluchestan Province during 2015-2019

Introduction: Tuberculosis is one of the oldest and best-known diseases that has been with mankind for many years. Despite the reduction of infectious diseases in Iran, tuberculosis still remains in some parts of the country, especially in the south of Iran. The aim of this study was the epidemiological investigation of tuberculosis in Sistan and Baluchistan Province.
 Methods: The current research was conducted cross-sectionally in 2022. The study population included all the patients with tuberculosis in Sistan and Baluchistan Province. Data were collected by census method and using standard checklist. Data analysis was done using SPSS v16 software and descriptive and analytical tests.
 Results: In this study, the files of 5382 patients with tuberculosis in Sistan and Baluchistan Province were examined. 2489 patients (42.6%) were men. The most affected group were 2309 elderly people (39.5%) and 20 patients (0.34%) with HIV. The number of 4309 patients (73.8%) were suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. There was a significant relationship between the elderly age group (P=0.04), female gender (P=0.02), non-Iranian nationality (P=0.02), and urban residences (P=0.03) with tuberculosis. However, no significant relationship was observed between marital status (P=0.06) and prison history (P=0.07).
 Conclusion: The incidence of tuberculosis fluctuated during the five years, but the overall incidence has been decreasing. Considering that some factors such as age groups, gender and symptoms such as cough, weight loss and chest pain increase the chance of contracting the disease. Therefore, doctors of health centers can take an important step in reducing the incidence of tuberculosis with timely visits and regular monitoring of the treatment process of patients.

A mixed methods study about health problems and drug use in Belgian prisons during 2021-2022

Abstract Negative effects of imprisonment on quality of health and drug use are well known. Although the interference between social- psychological- and physical aspects of health seem obvious, in many prison settings an overall approach with respect to drug use is lacking. A mixed methods study collected data during 2021-2022 in five Belgian prisons. People in prison were randomly invited for a quantitative survey about drug use, violence, social contacts, loneliness, anxiety, depression and sleep. The survey was carried out in 13 languages using tablets. In total, 280 responses were analysed. Next, respondents of the survey that used illicit drugs were invited for an in-depth interview about personal insights on support needs of drug use and social-, physical- and emotional well-being (N = 38). Besides, persons released less than 1 year ago and who used illicit drugs (N = 12) were interviewed. Drug use and symptoms of anxiety, depression, sleep problems, loneliness, suicidal attempts and violence are 2 to 8 times higher in prison compared to community. Drug use inside prison was more prevalent (p < 0.05) among people with a prison history. Respondents also mentioned the negative influence of drug use on physical, social and emotional health. Severe depression symptoms and the occurrence of suicide attempts were more reported among people who used drugs in prison in the past month. Although most respondents indicated having received visits during the past month, lack of social contacts and dependence on others were strongly present during the interviews. The results suggest that the prison context affects the interconnection of biopsychosocial health aspects as a whole to such an extent that the likelihood of drug use increases. This finding is essential to address the needs of people in prison in a more holistic way. Enlarging this scope in prison policy and more specific treatment initiatives enables increasing equity in care and will improve both security and health outcomes. Key messages • The results support an expansion of treatment initiatives that have been already implemented but in which the interconnection of the biopsychosocial health aspects with drug-use should be integrated. • This study supports the idea to develop a more holistic prison policy by adding drug use, physical, social and mental health to the main concern of security.

The estimation of long and short term survival time and associated factors of HIV patients using mixture cure rate models

BackgroundHIV is one of the deadliest epidemics and one of the most critical global public health issues. Some are susceptible to die among people living with HIV and some survive longer. The aim of the present study is to use mixture cure models to estimate factors affecting short- and long-term survival of HIV patients.MethodsThe total sample size was 2170 HIV-infected people referred to the disease counseling centers in Kermanshah Province, in the west of Iran, from 1998 to 2019. A Semiparametric PH mixture cure model and a mixture cure frailty model were fitted to the data. Also, a comparison between these two models was performed.ResultsBased on the results of the mixture cure frailty model, antiretroviral therapy, tuberculosis infection, history of imprisonment, and mode of HIV transmission influenced short-term survival time (p-value < 0.05). On the other hand, prison history, antiretroviral therapy, mode of HIV transmission, age, marital status, gender, and education were significantly associated with long-term survival (p-value < 0.05). The concordance criteria (K-index) value for the mixture cure frailty model was 0.65 whereas for the semiparametric PH mixture cure model was 0.62.ConclusionThis study showed that the frailty mixture cure models is more suitable in the situation where the studied population consisted of two groups, susceptible and non-susceptible to the event of death. The people with a prison history, who received ART treatment, and contracted HIV through injection drug users survive longer. Health professionals should pay more attention to these findings in HIV prevention and treatment.

Sexual and reproductive history of female prisoners in Iran: a health care needs analysis

PurposeAccording to estimates, there are approximately 714,000 female prisoners in the world. A considerable proportion are pregnant, of childbearing age at the time of incarceration and may experience numerous reproductive health concerns. The purpose of this study is to examine the demographics and sexual and reproductive history of female prisoners in Iran.Design/methodology/approachFour hundred and thirty-four female prisoners (mean age: 39.0 ± 9.9) serving sentences at Qarchak prison, Iran, completed a questionnaire. The participants were recruited between October 2017 and September 2018 using a convenient sampling method. The questionnaire captured sociodemographic characteristics and sexual and reproductive history.FindingsMost respondents had 7–12 years of formal education, were housewives (69.9%), were either married (41.6%) or divorced (41.8%) and were literate (91.3%). History of drug use among the respondents was 34.7%. Most respondents had regular menstruation (63.5%) and were pre-menopausal (86.1%). Natural birth control was preferred (39.7%) compared to other methods, such as condoms (18%) and oral contraceptive pills (8.4%). Spontaneous and induced abortions were reported by 17.8% and 16.4% of respondents, respectively. There was 5.9% of respondents that reported having a history of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) before incarceration, with HPV the most common (12.7%).Research limitations/implicationsThis study has limitations, including the problem of following up with prisoners to shorten the average length of their imprisonment, which can leave many issues in the field of women’s health and their follow-up incomplete. Prison health care workers should also follow up on women’s health and pregnancy hygiene after their release because there is usually a high prevalence of STIs in prisoners.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight the importance of improving the quality of women’s health care and pregnancy-related care in prisons. Additionally, the importance of having a health protocol for incarcerated women in Iran. Other programs should also be implemented for women prisoners to eliminate the discrimination they may face in prison.Originality/valueThe international community has attempted to develop care guidelines for pregnant prisoners, particularly for prenatal and mental health services. However, currently in Iran no such guidelines have been developed. To date no research has explored the sexual health among female prisoners of this country. The aim of the present study was to examine the demographics and sexual and reproductive history of female prisoners in Iran. A secondary aim was to identify the health care needs of female prisoners in Iran.

Didactic potential of historical research of the Germans in Ukraine

In this article the history of Germans, including German and Austrian prisoners of war, on the territory of modern Southern Ukraine was researched. Completely new facts were discovered, which make a significant contribution to the development of historical research. All sorts of things related to the history of one's own hometown were touched upon, as far as the subject is concerned. But on the other hand, these newly discovered materials can be used as teaching material, which realizes the idea of integration of science and education. All the collected material was realized in a series of exercises aimed at the formation and development of various linguistic skills in reading, listening, writing and speaking. This idea has already been practically implemented in the teaching activity: Within the framework of the conducted teaching and research project, places were identified where the German prisoners of war were housed and worked in the Dnipropetrovsk region; buildings built by German prisoners of war according to the projects developed by German engineers; the German traces in different spheres of life in our region and our hometown were researched.

The Honest Politician’s Guide to Prisons and Probation. By KingRoy andWillmottLucy (Routledge, 2021, 274pp. £38.99 pbk)

King and Willmott’s The Honest Politician’s Guide to Prisons and Probation seeks to provide ‘an authoritative account of the crisis which has gradually engulfed the prison and probation services since 1991’ (Preface). This book provides an interesting descriptive account of a period of much importance, drawing on interviews with all surviving Home Secretaries and Justice Secretaries of the period. Insights are also provided via interviews conducted with Director Generals of the Prison Service and Probation Service, Chief Inspectors of Prisons and Probation, and the four most recent Lord Chief Justices. The opening chapter provides a brief history of prisons and probation in England and Wales from 1990 to the present. Chapters 2–6 then provide an oral history of each political period (with chapter 6 providing views from Lord Chief Justices across the whole time span). Chapter 7 then provides a (slightly disconnected) ‘Agenda for Action’, in the spirit of Morris and Hawkins’ Honest Politician’s Guide to Crime Control (1970), which sets out a normative argument for a better criminal justice system. There is much for the intelligent general reader (the intended target of the book: p. 2) to enjoy.

Sociological study of the effect of informal settlements on social harms (Case Study: Kermanshah city)

Background and Aim: The phenomenon of informal settlements can bring with it many social harms. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of informal settlements on the amount of social harms such as theft, divorce, suicide, and drugs in the city of Kermanshah. Methods: The current research is an applied research in terms of its purpose. In terms of method, it is a descriptive research and it will be done as a survey; Because the required information is obtained from the current state of the statistical sample using a questionnaire. It is a researcher-made questionnaire of informal settlements and a standard questionnaire of social harms, which is set in 66 items. The statistical population of the present study includes 270,979 male and female residents of informal settlements in Kermanshah city in the year 2021. In this research, 384 were selected as sample members by random-cluster method. Results: The descriptive findings of the current research show that the reason for migration and choosing the neighborhood of most of the 160 respondents (42.7%) was their economic situation. Also, in the studied sample, 169 people (44.5%) agree to leave the place and 211 people (55.5%) oppose leaving the place, 241 people (63.6%) agree and 138 people (36.4%) oppose. To leave the place, they were on the condition of handing over land or housing, which was the reason for not wanting to leave the place of most of the respondents (151 (42.8%) being close to the workplace). Finally, regarding participation in activities to improve the status of their community during the past 5 years, 177 people (46.1%) participated in the activities and 202 people (53.3%) did not participate. Conclusion: Based on the statistics and findings of the research, it can be concluded that the main problems of informal settlements are the lack of minimum facilities, which indicates poverty, lack of economic security and forced to migrate to this neighborhood. Addiction to cigarettes and drugs, history of theft, crime and prison or violence, suicide and divorce, all of these factors have come together and caused insecurities and caused social damage among the residents of this neighborhood. Considering that most of these people have migrated from the city to these marginal areas, this confirms that they did not have suitable living conditions and were forced to migrate to the outskirts of the cities with limited facilities and many problems.

Coloniality and the Criminal Justice System: Empire and its Legacies in Guyana

ABSTRACT This article explores the colonial origins of aspects of law and punishment in Guyana, arguing that they can be linked to practices that date from the early nineteenth century. First, it connects the emergence of the still extant system of preliminary inquiries in the criminal justice system to debates about the property rights of slaveowners in the 1820s, the era of amelioration. Second, it explores the importance of plantation agriculture in shaping the colony’s jail-building programme in the years following emancipation in 1834, when prisons became a means of social discipline and labour control and a source of unfree labour. Linking observations on the nation’s colonial history made during a 2016 commission of enquiry into a prison riot in Guyana’s oldest and largest jail, Georgetown, to the history of prisons and prisoner experience and their relationship to enslavement and indentureship, the article reveals the persistence of discourses and practices of imperial governance and associated public attitudes since Independence in 1966. This historicized perspective underpins the argument that colonial systems and mentalities, or what the authors term ‘punitive coloniality’, continue to pervade both structures of state accountability and criminal justice practice in Guyana today.

Creative Expression and the Material Culture of Italian POWs in the United States During World War II

This study concerns the history of Italian prisoners of war in the United States during World War II through an analysis of the art and architecture they created. These crafted expressions highlight how Italian culture was transported and reshaped during the war and suggest alternate understandings of Italian diasporic culture and wartime experiences. They reinforced cultural heritage, mediated personal and community identities, and negotiated some of the atrocities of war. As a cultural studies scholar engaging with Italian transnational concerns, my approach emerges from an interest in the use of space, place-making, and the meanings ascribed to the material world.

Saigon’s penalscape: interpreting colonial prisons in Vietnam

ABSTRACT This article explores how purpose-built museums interpret the story of colonial imprisonment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Prisons integral to the 100-year French colonial occupation, and the subsequent American War, have been re-purposed, destroyed, or obscured. In response, memorial museums have an important role presenting prison history to international tourists and local visitors alike. Our approach interprets artefacts relating to restraint and torture, the reconstruction of prison cells, and the use of photography in three museums in the city—the War Remnants Museum, the Ton Duc Thang Museum, and the Museum of Southern Vietnamese Women—each featuring recreations of the Tiger Cages from a further notorious prison site, some 200 kilometres southeast of HCMC on the Côn Đảo archipelago. Memoirs, photographs, objects, and plaques from prisons in HCMC and Côn Đảo offer domestic and international tourists narratives stories of Vietnamese resistance to imprisonment. Considering the way former prison sites and museums memorialising prisons can be taken together as a series, we use the concept of the “penalscape” to indicate the contextual links between prison, education, and political struggle in an abolitionist framework.

Author Response

Author Response

The Mass Deportation of Poles to Siberia, 1863–1880

The Mass Deportation of Poles to Siberia, 1863–1880

The Carceral Universal and the Prison Particular

The Carceral Universal and the Prison Particular

Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution by T. Cole Jones

Reviewed by: Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution by T. Cole Jones Noah Shusterman T. Cole Jones, Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution (Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 2019). Pp. 336; 11 illus. $39.95 cloth. In the fall of 1776, George Washington received a letter from William Howe criticizing the conditions in which British prisoners of war were being held, including the American practice of holding them in common jails. Such treatment of soldiers, Howe noted, was not in line with the "Custom of War." Nor was it consistent with Washington's own views of how war should be conducted. According to T. Cole Jones, Howe's reproach "hit a nerve" with Washington, for whom "any feeling of indignation was overcome by shame" (100). Washington had hoped to lead a well-trained army in a European-style war against the British army, following the rules of war that prevailed in Europe at the time—norms that included humane treatment of all prisoners, and through which captured officers were freed on their own parole. But the American Revolutionary War was something different. This was in part because the British, at the start, were hesitant to categorize the Americans as enemy soldiers. The British saw the Americans as "rebels" and therefore outside of the rules of war, as they had declared the Jacobites during the 1740s. Over the course of the war, Washington eventually realized that his view of what the war should be was one that few of his fellow Americans shared. Instead, British prisoners who had surrendered under relatively lenient agreements (including at Saratoga and at Yorktown) found themselves facing a population that wanted vengeance. Local governments responsible for keeping the prisoners according to the terms of the surrender agreements had neither the desire nor the funding to do so. Congress accomplished little other than the occasional retroactive rejection of the surrender agreements which, in practice, had long become dead letters. American prisoners, meanwhile, were held in near-starvation conditions in prisons or even on boats anchored offshore, where diseases ran rampant. Though part of the Americans' mistreatment was a result of British disdain for the rebels, they also suffered from Congress's inability to foot the bill for their food and lodging. As the war dragged on, military leaders on both sides hoped for large-scale prisoner exchanges. For a variety of reasons, including confusion on the American side about the respective prerogatives of state, local, and national governments, those exchanges rarely occurred, and the men were left to either wait out the war in prison or escape. Captives of Liberty, which grew out of Jones's doctoral dissertation, is a detailed and thorough history of the way that the British treated their American prisoners of war and, even more, the way that the Americans treated British prisoners. It is divided into five chapters, organized chronologically and following the course of the war. Jones incorporates an impressive amount of evidence. Its most striking passages are also its bleakest, a result of Jones's decision to center "the war and its consequent horrors." Including both large-scale surveys of the sweep of the war and specific vignettes—many of them horrific—Jones traces the history of prisoners from 1775 until 1783, and also shows how violence toward prisoners increased over the course of the war. By the end, during the Southern Campaign, the story is one of "bloodlust" and kangaroo courts, especially in the violence between local loyalists and patriots (202). [End Page 576] There is a curious tension throughout the book, though—almost as if Jones shares some of Washington's disappointment. By the end of the book, after reading about the repeated failures of Congress to arrange any large-scale prisoner transfers, the numerous attacks on British prisoners by their guards or by local patriots, the population's continued calls for retaliation against prisoners of war, and the willingness on so many levels to ignore agreed-upon conditions for the prisoners' surrender, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the war was waged by a bloodthirsty population and...