Rock College: An unofficial history of Mt Eden Prison

(Paperback)

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Description

INSIDE THE FORBIDDING STONE WALLS OF NEW ZEALANDS MOST INFAMOUS GAOL. Mount Eden is this countrys most famous gaol. The forbidding Victorian structure has housed some of the countrys most notorious criminals, and is where many hangings took place, right up until modern times. It has been both the site of tension and conflict and a driver of prison reform. It has housed political prisoners such as Rua Kenana and Tim Shadbolt and high-profile criminals such as George Wilder, and many times it has been almost destroyed in big riots. In Rock College, highly regarded historian Mark Derby tells the fascinating and sometimes shocking story of the prison, its inmates and its superintendents with verve and compassion.

Reviews

'If you want to know what it's like inside that place, this book is the next best thing to a ten-year stretch' - James 'Diamond Jim' Shepherd, former inmate of Mount Eden Prison; 'A major contribution to New Zealand's penal history' - Sir Kim Workman, penal reform advocate; 'This is truly a detailed history of an unsavoury subject, the scope of which is quite remarkable.' - Otago Daily Times; 'Derby's tendency to keep the narrative local and lead with the stories of people and events helps make the book an incredibly engaging read. Derby does a great job developing the kind of thick description of penal practice and life inside that is nearly impossible to find in existing published work. I consider Rock College a must-read' - Liam Martin, New Zealand Journal of History

Author Bio

Mark Derby is a well-known historian. He wrote for the New Zealand online encylopaedia Te Ara for six years and is the author of several books, including on New Zealanders who fought in the Spanish Civil War, the Waihi miners strike and, recently, a graphic history of the Treaty of Waitangi.