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A Bit of a Stretch
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46/99
Critics
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Rating
66/99
Volume
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Rating
87/99
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About This Book
A shocking and darkly funny account of the reality of Britain's prisons. Where can a tin of tuna buy you clean clothes? Which British education system struggles with 50% illiteracy? Where do teetotal Muslims attend AA meetings? Where is it easier to get 'spice' than paracetamol? Where does self-harm barely raise an eyebrow? Welcome to Her Majesty's Prison Service, a creaking and surreal world that has been left to rot for decades in the shadows of polite society. Like most people, documentary-maker Chris Atkins didn't spend much time thinking about prisons. But after becoming embroiled in a dodgy scheme to fund his latest film, he was sent down for five years. His new home would be HMP Wandsworth, one of the oldest, largest, and most dysfunctional prisons in Europe. Horrifying, moving, and darkly funny, this is the unvarnished depiction of what he found. With a cast of characters ranging from wily drug dealers to corrupt screws to senior officials bent on endless (and fruitless) reform, this is the reality behind the locked gates. Full of incredible and hilarious stories, A Bit of a Stretch reveals the true scale of our prison crisis and why it is costing us all.
Preview
Reviews
"If you thought you knew how bad British prisons are, you haven't read this book."
"He spends nine months at Wandsworth before he is transferred to a minimum-security prison to serve the remainder of this time."
"...a razor-sharp and darkly funny memoir that should be mandatory reading for justice ministers, ministry officials, Her Majesty's inspectors, and anyone at all interested in the anarchy that is the UK prisons system."
"Something isn't working."
"He wants his pacy memoir, which is imbued with a dark humour but is often heart-breaking, to make the case for penal reform."
"The shock-horror of being a middle-class man in prison is well evoked ..."
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