A Prison Diary: Volume 1 Hell - Jeffery Archer

The disgraced peer, Jeffrey Archer, spent some time in jail and profited from his crime by writing not one, but three books about his time inside. The first in the series is about his time in Belmarsh, which he refers to as Hell. This first book takes the reader from the time he was sentenced through his first experiences of prison life. For anyone who has never been inside a prison it is an eye opener. He takes us from the time he was sentenced and had to say goodbye to his family, to the ride in the prison "bus" and the induction process. It is even possible you might begin to feel slightly sorry for the chap when you realise what he was feeling ...  Read the complete review

I picked this book up in a charity shop and i will admit i do enjoy reading the books he has written in the past. This though is completely different as it gives a very personal insight into his thoughts about the lead up to the trial and finally his committal to prison. I did wonder at the time, when he was sent to jail that in some ways he was made an example of by the courts. Back to the book though, Archer gives a good account of what it is like to find yourself in jail for the first time. All due credit to him, he does not hark on about the sentence he has been given. He does complain about the food, the cells, the smell, in fact he complains a ...  Read the complete review

I bought this book very cheap while studying at university to give me something different to do. I really enjoyed this book and have read it twice over. This is volume 1 of 3 (i think). I have the first 2 and this is the best of them. I don't really know much about Jeffrey Archer, or anything really. The way it is written though makes you feel quite sympathetic towards his rough time in prison. Whether it was deserved or not i don't really have an opinion on. We hear alot about todays prisoners being better treated than some of the poorer people in life. This books paints a different picture. It is very well detailed and structured with ...  Read the complete review

I started reading this book last week. It is a very easy read. You can actually read it in 2 days. It is very interesting because it lets you into the world in prisons in an intimate way. I did not realise that half this stuff he talks about went on inside prisons. I am not naive, but his recount is extroadinary. I enjoyed the book although it wasn't as great as his previous books but then i guess this is more in touch with reality, perhaps that is why. It is quite shocking in places and makes you realise that there is a lot of innocent people in jail as well as scumbags. His use of diagrams to describe certain rooms in the prison is interesting as no matter how ...  Read the complete review