This copiously illustrated book takes the lid off the real story of prison food. Including the full text of an original prison cookery manual compiled at Parkhurst Prison in 1902, it examines the history of prison catering from the Middle Ages (when prisoners were expected to pay for their own board and lodging whilst inside) through the Newgate of the Victorian age and on to the present day. With sections on prison life, punishments, the food on board transportation vessels and floating prison hulks, and the work of reformers such as John Howard and Elizabeth Fry, who vastly improved the conditions of those who were put behind bars, this evocative and unique book shows the reader exactly what 'doing porridge' entailed.

PETER HIGGINBOTHAM, who lives in Yorkshire, runs the website www.workhouses.org.uk. An expert on the subject of many years’ standing, his previous titles include The Workhouse Cookbook, Life in a Victorian Workhouse, Workhouses of the North and Workhouses of the Midlands and Voices of the Workhouse.