Introduction / Norval Morris, David J. Rothman -- Prison before the prison : the ancient and medieval worlds / Edward M. Peters -- The body and the state : early modern Europe / Pieter Spierenburg -- The well-ordered prison : England, 1780-1865 / Randall McGowen -- Perfecting the prison : United States, 1789-1865 / David J. Rothman -- The Victorian prison : England, 1865-1965 / Sean McConville -- The failure of reform : United States, 1865-1965 / Edgardo Rotman -- The prison on the continent : Europe, 1865-1965 / Patricia O'Brien -- The contemporary prison : 1965-present / Norval Morris -- The Australian experience : the convict colony / John Hirst -- Local justice : the jail / Sean McConville -- Wayward sisters : the prison for women / Lucia Zedner -- Delinquent children : the juvenile reform school / Steven Schlossman -- Confining dissent : the political prison / Aryeh Neier -- Literature of confinement / W.B. Carnochan.