"A disturbing yet engrossing book... Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of violence, punishment, prisons, and women in the American West. Photographs of women inmates, many of whom bore the earmarks of physical punishment, complement the text and continue to haunt this reader." Myra C. Glenn, Journal of American History "Butler makes visible people hitherto ignored in the historical record. This powerful, well-documented study ... challenges and recasts interpretations on the nature of violence in the history of the American West by linking gender, power, and the violent male world of the penitentiary... Indispensable." Choice "A richly detailed, wonderfully accessible book that captures both that captures both the humanity of women prisoners and the inhumanity of male-built, male-run and male-focused prison systems... An extremely important contribution to our understanding of the history of women in the criminal justice system." The Journal of San Diego History "A fascinating socio-historical account of the experience of women in the criminal justice system of the western and north central United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries... Strongly recommended to anyone interested in a socio-historical analysis of women in the criminal justice system. Butler writes well and with sociological insight." Cynthia L. Phillips, The Great Plains Sociologist "Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this study will revolutionize the way women's and western historians think and write about violence. Butler has expanded the understanding of western violence to encompass not only women but abusive family situations, abominable brutality within prisons, and societal fury against offenders once released." Glenda Riley, author of A Place to Grow: Women in the American West

"A disturbing yet engrossing book... Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of violence, punishment, prisons, and women in the American West. Photographs of women inmates, many of whom bore the earmarks of physical punishment, complement the text and continue to haunt this reader." Myra C. Glenn, Journal of American History "Butler makes visible people hitherto ignored in the historical record. This powerful, well-documented study ... challenges and recasts interpretations on the nature of violence in the history of the American West by linking gender, power, and the violent male world of the penitentiary... Indispensable." Choice "A richly detailed, wonderfully accessible book that captures both that captures both the humanity of women prisoners and the inhumanity of male-built, male-run and male-focused prison systems... An extremely important contribution to our understanding of the history of women in the criminal justice system." The Journal of San Diego History "A fascinating socio-historical account of the experience of women in the criminal justice system of the western and north central United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries... Strongly recommended to anyone interested in a socio-historical analysis of women in the criminal justice system. Butler writes well and with sociological insight." Cynthia L. Phillips, The Great Plains Sociologist "Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this study will revolutionize the way women's and western historians think and write about violence. Butler has expanded the understanding of western violence to encompass not only women but abusive family situations, abominable brutality within prisons, and societal fury against offenders once released." Glenda Riley, author of A Place to Grow: Women in the American West