Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
'I know not whether Laws be right, Or whether Laws be wrong; All that we know who lie in gaol Is that the wall is strong; And that each day is like a year, A year whose days are long.' Oscar Wilde (The Ballad of Reading Gaol) This unique work looks closely at the life and times of Reading Gaol prison during the period that Oscar Wilde was a prisoner there. The book also contains a number of new insights concerning Wilde's classic poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and offers fresh information about Oscar Wilde. Written by senior prison officer Anthony Stokes, Pit of Shame is based on upwards of ten years research and familiarity with the very fabric of Reading Gaol. It also tells of notorious and famous prisoners such as Thomas Jennings, Amelia Dyer (the 'Reading Baby Farmer') and actor Stacey Keach; examines the many hangings that took place at Reading over the years, including that of Trooper Charles Thomas Wooldridge the 'C. T. W.' of Wilde's ballad; lists the chain of events that