Chronicles of Newgate, Vol. 1 From the twelfth to the eighteenth century

In this sweeping chronicle the listener is taken on a global tour of how societies have answered the age‑old clash between law‑maker and law‑breaker. From medieval Spanish autos‑da‑fé to the stark efficiency of the French guillotine, the narrative catalogues the most chilling instruments of death and the strange logic that kept them in place. The author’s measured prose turns each grim detail into a window on the fears and values of the era that produced them.

Drawing on his long career as a prison inspector, the writer brings a rare, almost tactile intimacy to the story of confinement. He describes the dank oubliettes beneath the Conciergerie, the iron cages of Louis XI’s reign, and the relentless suffering that defined life behind those walls. Listening, you’ll sense both the horror of past punishments and the uneasy thread that links them to our modern notions of justice.