The Politics of Punishment : Prision Reform in Russia, 1863-1917

Bruce F. Adams examines how Russia's Main Prison Administration was created, the number of prisoners it managed in what types of prisons, and what it accomplished. While providing a thorough account of prison management at a crucial time in Russia's history, Adams explores broader discussions of reform within Russia's government and society, especially after the Revolution of 1905, when arguments on such topics as parole and probation boiled in the arena of raucous public debate. -- "Midwest Book Review" Despite the horrors of punishment in a society so different from Western ideologies, the Russian government hugely modernized its correctional system toward the end of imperial rule. This study traces the development of the penal system from the "Great Reforms" to the "Main Prison Administration".