French and American prisoners of war at Dartmoor Prison, 1805-1816 : the strangest experiment / Neil Davie.
Davie, Neil, author.
2021
UB805.G7 D38 2021
Available Online

Linked e-resources

Linked Resource Online Access
Concurrent users Unlimited
Authorized users Authorized users
Document Delivery Supplied Can lend chapters, not whole ebooks

Details

Title French and American prisoners of war at Dartmoor Prison, 1805-1816 : the strangest experiment / Neil Davie.
Author Davie, Neil, author.
ISBN 9783030838911 (electronic bk.)
3030838919 (electronic bk.)
9783030838904
3030838900
DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83891-1
Published Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, [2021]
Copyright ©2021
Language English
Description 1 online resource : illustrations
Other Standard Identifiers 10.1007/978-3-030-83891-1 doi
Call Number UB805.G7 D38 2021
Dewey Decimal Classification 365/.48094235309034
Summary For decades after the War of 1812, the Dartmoor Massacre when British guards fired upon rioting American prisoners of war caste a dark shadow over Anglo-American relations. This book not only retells the story of that incident, but also places it in a larger context of carceral history in terms of prison design and in terms of the lived experience of both the French and the Americans held in Dartmoor Prison in the early nineteenth century. Paul A. Gilje, University of Oklahoma, USA The Napoleonic Wars brought unprecedented numbers of prisoners-of-war to Britain and posed huge problems for the authorities. In this pioneering study Neil Davie looks at one of the more radical solutions, the construction on Dartmoor of a war prison that would house 5000 men, many in cramped and insanitary conditions. The prison achieved notoriety in 1815 when rioting American prisoners were mown down, and nine killed, in what became known as the Dartmoor Massacre. But violence was never far away, and this book offers keen insights into the social dynamics of life within the prison walls. Alan Forrest, University of York, UK As Davie demonstrates in this painstakingly researched book, Dartmoor is a fascinating observatory for any historian interested in carceral spaces, the organisation of prison societies, and prison governmentality. Renaud Morieux, University of Cambridge, UK This book explores the history of Dartmoor War Prison (1805-16). This is not the well-known Victorian convict prison, but a less familiar penal institution, conceived and built nearly half a century earlier in the midst of the long-running wars against France, and destined, not for criminals, but for French and later American prisoners of war. During a period of six and a half years, more than 20,000 captives passed through its gates. Drawing on contemporary official records from Britain, France and the USA, and a wealth of prisoners letters, diaries and memoirs (many of them studied here in detail for the first time), this book examines how Dartmoor War Prison was conceived and designed; how it was administered both from London and on the ground; how the fate of its prisoners intertwined with the military and diplomatic history of the period; and finally how those prisoners interacted with each other, with their captors, and with the wider community. The history of the prison on the moor is one marked by high hopes and noble intentions, but also of neglect, hardship, disease and death. Neil Davie is Professor of British History at Universite Lumiere, Lyon, France.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form French and American prisoners of war at Dartmoor Prison, 1805-1816.
Linked Resources Online Access
Record Appears in Online Resources > Ebooks
All Resources
1. Introduction: Dartmoor
The Lost Prison?
2. Prisons and Prisoners of War: Shifting Definitions, 1770-1815
3. The Prison on the Moor: Conception and Design
4. A "Fair Matter for Public Discussion and Enquiry?"
5. Hierarchy, Solidarity and Conflict: Dartmoors Hybrid Regime
6. The Porous Prison: Commerce, Culture and Escape
7. "Blood Shed & Cloudy Weather, Wind Easterly"
The Dartmoor Massacre (1815)
8. Conclusion.

Browse Subjects

Show more subjects...

Statistics

from
to
Export