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PR620934
The Prison Diary of A C Barrington
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Discover the powerful and poignant tales within 'The Prison Diary of A C Barrington,' a significant piece of New Zealand history. This remarkable diary, kept by Archie Barrington, a noted pacifist incarcerated during World War II, offers a unique glimpse into the harsh realities of World War II-era imprisonment. With its vivid descriptions of prison life, the challenges of monotony, and the struggle against oppressive conditions, this diary provides an invaluable perspective on resistance and resilience.
Edited by John Pratt, this compelling narrative captures the squalid living conditions, relentless cold, and the emotional toll of imprisonment faced by Barrington and his fellow pacifists. The diary entries, carefully reconstructed from messages scrawled in the margins of books, highlight Barrington's coping strategies and reflections, making it a rare document from an era when prisoners were denied the right to write their experiences.
In addition to the diary, Pratt’s insightful commentary explores the sociopolitical factors that led to Barrington's imprisonment. The book raises critical questions about intolerance and punitive approaches in New Zealand, contrasting it with the more lenient treatment of dissenters in Australia and Britain.
'The Prison Diary of A C Barrington' is not just a historical record but an essential read for anyone interested in Pacific history, civil rights, and the human spirit's strength against adversity. Perfect for educators, historians, and general readers alike, this paperback edition is an indispensable addition to your bookshelf.
Author: John Pratt Publisher: Otago University Press
Bind: paperback
Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 19-02-2016
A.C. (Archie) Barrington was a leading New Zealand pacifist during World War 2. Incarcerated in Mount Crawford Prison for his beliefs in 1941, he kept an illicit diary, scrawled in the margins of books. Many years later his son John happened across the diary and painstakingly reconstructed it. Such documents are exceptionally rare - until recent times prisoners were not allowed to keep any record of their experiences and many were illiterate anyway. Barrington vividly and compellingly recorded the squalid, rundown conditions, monotonous and exhausting labour, the intense cold from which there was little protection, and the strategies he and his fellow pacifists adopted to enable them to cope with prison life. John Pratt has edited the diary and provides a fascinating commentary on the issues it raises in relation to prison life then and now. He also addresses a fundamental question - what were Barrington and his like doing in prison, when similar expressions of dissent would almost certainly have been ignored in Australia or Britain? Why was New Zealand, with its â€fair go’, egalitarian reputation, so intolerant and punitive? Pratt chronicles a history of intolerance, suspicion and deep-seated antipathies that may go some way towards explaining the current penal saturation in this â€friendly’ land.
Edited by John Pratt, this compelling narrative captures the squalid living conditions, relentless cold, and the emotional toll of imprisonment faced by Barrington and his fellow pacifists. The diary entries, carefully reconstructed from messages scrawled in the margins of books, highlight Barrington's coping strategies and reflections, making it a rare document from an era when prisoners were denied the right to write their experiences.
In addition to the diary, Pratt’s insightful commentary explores the sociopolitical factors that led to Barrington's imprisonment. The book raises critical questions about intolerance and punitive approaches in New Zealand, contrasting it with the more lenient treatment of dissenters in Australia and Britain.
'The Prison Diary of A C Barrington' is not just a historical record but an essential read for anyone interested in Pacific history, civil rights, and the human spirit's strength against adversity. Perfect for educators, historians, and general readers alike, this paperback edition is an indispensable addition to your bookshelf.
Author: John Pratt Publisher: Otago University Press
Bind: paperback
Dimensions: 150 x 230 mm
Pages: 280
Publication Date: 19-02-2016
A.C. (Archie) Barrington was a leading New Zealand pacifist during World War 2. Incarcerated in Mount Crawford Prison for his beliefs in 1941, he kept an illicit diary, scrawled in the margins of books. Many years later his son John happened across the diary and painstakingly reconstructed it. Such documents are exceptionally rare - until recent times prisoners were not allowed to keep any record of their experiences and many were illiterate anyway. Barrington vividly and compellingly recorded the squalid, rundown conditions, monotonous and exhausting labour, the intense cold from which there was little protection, and the strategies he and his fellow pacifists adopted to enable them to cope with prison life. John Pratt has edited the diary and provides a fascinating commentary on the issues it raises in relation to prison life then and now. He also addresses a fundamental question - what were Barrington and his like doing in prison, when similar expressions of dissent would almost certainly have been ignored in Australia or Britain? Why was New Zealand, with its â€fair go’, egalitarian reputation, so intolerant and punitive? Pratt chronicles a history of intolerance, suspicion and deep-seated antipathies that may go some way towards explaining the current penal saturation in this â€friendly’ land.
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