Jessica Mitford – författare

First published in 1974, The American Prison Business studies the lunacies, the delusions, and the bizarre inner workings of the American prison business. From the first demonstration that the penitentiary is an American invention that was initiated by the late eighteenth-century reformers, to the startling revelations, in the chapter called ‘Cheaper than Chimpanzees’ of how pharmaceutical companies lease prisoners as human guinea-pigs, every page stimulates and surprises the reader as Jessica Mitford describes, inter alia the chemical, surgical and psychiatric techniques used to help ‘violent’ prisoners to be ‘reborn’; why businessmen tend to be more enthusiastic than the prisoners they employ in the ‘rent-a-con’ plan; and the Special Isolation Diet which tastes like inferior dog food. Jessica Mitford’s financial analysis of the prison business is a scoop. Her hard-eyed examination of how parole really works is a revelation. As the prison abolition movement continues to gain momentum, this book will provide food for thought for legislators, officials and students of sociology, law, criminology, penology, and history.

First published in 1974, The American Prison Business studies the lunacies, the delusions, and the bizarre inner workings of the American prison business. From the first demonstration that the penitentiary is an American invention that was initiated by the late eighteenth-century reformers, to the startling revelations, in the chapter called ‘Cheaper than Chimpanzees’ of how pharmaceutical companies lease prisoners as human guinea-pigs, every page stimulates and surprises the reader as Jessica Mitford describes, inter alia the chemical, surgical and psychiatric techniques used to help ‘violent’ prisoners to be ‘reborn’; why businessmen tend to be more enthusiastic than the prisoners they employ in the ‘rent-a-con’ plan; and the Special Isolation Diet which tastes like inferior dog food. Jessica Mitford’s financial analysis of the prison business is a scoop. Her hard-eyed examination of how parole really works is a revelation. As the prison abolition movement continues to gain momentum, this book will provide food for thought for legislators, officials and students of sociology, law, criminology, penology, and history.

''Enthralling and gloriously honest'' SUNDAY TIMES''These letters are a treat ... as an example of what a woman can do once she has rid herself of, or at least decided to ignore, the expectations of others - family, men, society - Jessica Mitford will always take some beating'' OBSERVER''Captures history''s most charming muckraker, from her friendships with Katharine Graham and Maya Angelou to her devotion to civil rights'' VOGUE''Jessica Mitford is a sister of mine. If I had to go into a room with a leopard, I wouldn''t hesitate to ask for her'' Maya AngelouOver her 78 years, Decca''s letters reveal a remarkable life - from her childhood as the daughter of a British peer to her scandalous elopement to the Spanish Civil War with her cousin, to her life in the USA, where she married a radical lawyer. The Mitford girls included Diana (who married the British fascist leader Oswald Mosley), Unity (who was close to Adolf Hitler) and Debo (who became the Duchess of Devonshire). Decca shocked them all when she joined the American Communist Party. Her letters are the stories of a century: gossip and politics, war and mores, the wonders of rapid technological change, the poignancy of personal struggles. They are also a record of her never-ending quest for social justice. This is a fascinating collection that reveals to us intimately the most ebullient Mitford of them all.

''This book is just about my favourite book of all time ... I''m not entirely convinced I could like somebody who didn''t like this book ... it''s funny and moving and gives you an insight into this extraordinary moment as the war is about to begin ... it''s so vivid, and what''s more, it''s incredibly current'' Robert Rinder, BBC Radio 4''Wonderfully funny and very poignant'' Philip Toynbee''More than an extremely amusing autobiography ... she has evoked a whole generation. Her book is full of the music of time'' SUNDAY TIMES''Whenever I read the words "Peer''s Daughter" in a headline,'' Lady Redesdale once sadly remarked, ''I know it''s going to be something about one of you children.'' The Mitford family is one of the century''s most enigmatic, made notorious by Nancy''s novels, Diana''s marriage to Sir Oswald Mosley, Unity''s infatuation with Hitler, Debo''s marriage to a duke and Jessica''s passionate commitment to communism. Hons and Rebels is an enchanting and deeply absorbing memoir of an isolated and eccentric upbringing which conceals beneath its witty, light-hearted surface much wisdom and depth of feeling.