The first courts handled crimes like lying, idleness and card playing with punishments that ranged from fines to public whipping to death by hanging. Constables kept order until Portsmouth's first police officer took up the shield in 1800. But no force could keep all crime at bay. The court sentenced the beautiful, educated Ruth Blay to hanging on shaky evidence that she might have killed her baby. Business magnate Frank Jones played corrupt politics, succumbed to extramarital temptations and helped make Water Street the red-lighted rum hole destination of the eastern seaboard. Mischievous sailors came into port looking to spend their money, finding ample opportunity in Portsmouth's bowery bordellos. Retired Portsmouth police officer David "Lou" Ferland traces the history of Portsmouth crime and justice from the first courts to today's award-winning police department.
"This text focuses on the modern aspects of the history of criminal justice, from 1900 to the present. A unique thematic approach, rather than a chronological approach, sets this book apart from comparable books on the subject, with chapters organized around themes such as policing, courts, due process, and prison and punishment. Making connections between history and contemporary criminal justice systems, structures, and processes, this text offers the latest in historical scholarship, made relevant to the needs of current and future practitioners in the field."--P. [4] of cover.
Captivating stories of the places where human evil has left a nefarious mark, featuring stories from the podcast Lore—now a streaming television series—including “Echoes,” “Withering Heights,” and “Behind Closed Doors” as well as rare material. Sometimes you walk into a room, a building, or even a town, and you feel it. Something seems off—an atmosphere that leaves you oddly unsettled, with a sense of lingering darkness. Join Aaron Mahnke, the host of the popular podcast Lore, as he explores some of these dreadful places and the history that haunts them. Mahnke takes us to Colorado and the palatial Stanley Hotel, where wealthy guests enjoyed views of the Rocky Mountains at the turn of the twentieth century—and where, decades later, a restless author would awaken from a nightmare, inspired to write one of the most revered horror novels of all time. Mahnke also crosses land and sea to visit frightful sites—from New Orleans to Richmond, Virginia, to the brooding, ancient castles of England—each with its own echoes of dark deeds, horrible tragedies, and shocking evil still resounding. Filled with evocative illustrations, this eerie tour of lurid landmarks and doomed destinations is just the ticket to take armchair travelers with a taste for the macabre to places they never thought they’d visit in their wildest, scariest dreams. The World of Lore series includes: MONSTROUS CREATURES • WICKED MORTALS • DREADFUL PLACES Praise for World of Lore: Dreadful Places “Well-written, rooted in deep historical research, and ridiculously entertaining . . . Each chapter brings a creepy story from folklore to life. . . . Hair-raising stuff.”—SyFy Wire “Fans of the Lore podcast won’t want to miss this latest volume in the creator’s series, a collection of illustrated versions of both rare and well-known stories about ‘lurid landmarks and doomed destinations.’”—io9 “Dreadful Places is a delight for Lore fans and newbies alike. In the book, [Aaron] Mahnke visits places around the world that are steeped in a supernatural legacy.”—Refinery29
•Entries written by renowned diplomatic and military historians as well as key scholars in international relations •Provides assessments and analyses of key episodes, issues and actors in the military and diplomatic history of the United States •Based on the award-winning Oxford Companion to United States History •Comprehensive collection of entries that span the founding of the U.S. to its present state •Offers a wide range of perspectives to provide an encompassing context of the United States' military and diplomatic legacies •Expansive bibliographies and suggested readings for each article to aid in research The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History, a two-volume set, will offer both assessment and analysis of the key episodes, issues and actors in the military and diplomatic history of the United States. At a time of war, in which ongoing efforts to recalibrate American diplomacy are as imperative as they are perilous, the Oxford Encyclopedia will present itself as the first recourse for scholars wishing to deepen their understanding of the crucial features of the historical and contemporary foreign policy landscape and its perennially martial components. Entries will be written by the top diplomatic and military historians and key scholars of international relations from within the American academy, supplemented, as is appropriate for an encyclopedia of diplomacy, with entries from foreign-based academics, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The crucial importance of the subject is reflected in the popularity of university courses dedicated to diplomatic and military history and the enduring appeal of international relations (IR) as a political science discipline drawing on both. The Oxford Encyclopedia will be a basic reference tool across both disciplines - a potentially very significant market. Readership: University-level undergraduate and graduate students in History
The abolishment of flogging in 1850 started the U.S. Navy on a quest for a prison system that culminated with the opening of Portsmouth Naval Prison in 1908. During World War I, that prison became the center of the Navy’s attempt to reform what many considered outdated means of punishment. Driven by Progressive Era ideals and led by Thomas Mott Osborne, cell doors remained opened, inmates governed themselves, and thousands of rehabilitated prisoners were returned to the fleet. Championed by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt, Osborne’s reforms proceeded positively until Vice Adm. William. Sims and others became convinced that too many troublemakers were being returned to the fleet. In response, FDR led an on-site investigation of conditions at Portsmouth prison, which included charges of gross mismanagement and rampant homosexual activity. Although exonerated, Osborne resigned and initiatives were quickly reversed as the Navy returned to a harsher system.
Containing a wealth of archival material and statistical data on crime and criminal justice, Criminal Justice in Hong Kong presents a detailed evaluation of Hong Kong’s criminal justice system, both past and present. Exploring the justice system and the perceptions of popular culture, this book demonstrates how the current criminal justice system has been influenced and shaped over time by Hong Kong’s historical position between ‘East’ and ‘West’. Jones and Vagg’s examination of the justice system not only takes into account geographical changes, like the erection of the border with communist China in 1950 but also insists that any deep understanding of the current system requires a dialogue with the rich and complex narratives of Hong Kong’s history. It explores a range of questions, including: How were Hong Kong's criminal justice institutions and practices formed? What has been its experience of law and order? How has Hong Kong's status as between 'East' and 'West' affected its social, political and legal institutions? Careful and detailed, this analysis of one of the most economically successful, politically stable and safe yet frequently misrepresented cities, is a valuable addition to the bookshelves of all undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Asian law.
For the first time, the full story of a crime that has haunted New England since 1873. The cold-blooded ax murder of two innocent Norwegian women at their island home off the coast of New Hampshire has gripped the region since 1873, beguiling tourists, inspiring artists, and fueling conspiracy theorists. The killer, a handsome Prussian fisherman down on his luck, was quickly captured, convicted in a widely publicized trial, and hanged in an unforgettable gallows spectacle. But he never confessed and, while in prison, gained a circle of admirers whose blind faith in his innocence still casts a shadow of doubt. A fictionalized bestselling novel and a Hollywood film have further clouded the truth. Finally a definitive "whydunnit" account of the Smuttynose Island ax murders has arrived. Popular historian J. Dennis Robinson fleshes out the facts surrounding this tragic robbery gone wrong in a captivating true crime page-turner. Robinson delves into the backstory at the rocky Isles of Shoals as an isolated centuries-old fishing village was being destroyed by a modern luxury hotel. He explores the neighboring island of Appledore where Victorian poet Celia Thaxter entertained the elite artists and writers of Boston. It was Thaxter's powerful essay about the murders in the Atlantic Monthly that shocked the American public. Robinson goes beyond the headlines of the burgeoning yellow press to explore the deeper lessons about American crime, justice, economics, and hero worship. Ten years before the Lizzie Borden ax murder trial and the fictional Sherlock Holmes, Americans met a sociopath named Louis Wagner—and many came to love him.
