Legal History: Crime and Punishment Research Guide

This guide details primary English and American resources on the history of crime and punishment.

Crime & Punishment - General Works

The history of crime and punishment has roots back in time, to Roman and Greek times, to the Middle Ages, with its punishments of stoning, burning, quartering, whipping, drowning and other violent acts. The administration of justice, criminal law and codes, penal institutions, transportation and colonization, are all part of the history of crime and punishment. Outlined below are some of the more interesting and useful works on the history of crime and punishment in England, Europe, America and Australia. Below here are general works, with a few biographies of those authors who were important writers in the analysis of criminal law. There are many more works available in the library than can be described here.