Reviews
Boston Review, January 2011
The dominant historical account of American prisons begins with the creation of the first Northeastern penitentiaries, whose stated aim was to reform wayward souls. In Georgia, The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, Perkinson contends that in order to understand the trends of the last four decades, we must revise the familiar story line about the early evolution of American prisons. We need to pay more attention to the history of southern prisons, for the Southern model has come to prevail in much of the rest of the country.
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New York Times, March 28, 2010
A searching history of American incarceration… An alarming indictment, built on passionate and exhaustive research.
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The New Republic, June 28, 2010
Robert Perkinson's sweeping and troubling account of the Lone Star State's penal system from the days of slavery to the present is a sober reminder that gaping budget deficits will not necessarily reverse the prison boom. The "Texas tough" style of justice is not only deeply embedded in the state's budget but also in its political, cultural, and social fabric.
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Houston Chronicle, March 21, 2010
Provocative [and] sorrowful… A sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present.
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San Francisco Chronicle (Associated Press), March 15, 2010
Compelling…Texas Tough is a gripping history lesson and a fascinating read.
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The Dallas Morning News, April 11, 2010
This is not a book that will make Texans proud…but anyone interested in America's prison system should read it.
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The Boston Globe, March 29, 2010
Perkinson makes a convincing case that mass incarceration is the most pressing civil rights issue today… Essential reading if the nation ever hopes to move in a different, less-punitive and more-rehabilitative direction.
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Booklist, March 1, 2010
Sheds light on the evolution of penal systems across the country... A fascinating and often deeply troubling book.
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Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2010
An intensively researched, disturbing history of American penology… A convincing and discouraging argument that the Texas model of a profit-making, retributive prison system has become the national template.
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The Morning News, April 12, 2010
[A] rich narrative…historian Robert Perkinson directs the clear light of reason onto the Lone Star State.
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Columbia Journalism Review, June 2010
"Ambitious" and "compelling"..., "Perkinson... takes readers on an eminently horrifying journey into America's own heart of darkness."
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