by Peter Oliver, Professor of History, York University. Published with the University of Toronto Press, 1998.
We are delighted that Peter Oliver has agreed to include his seminal work on prisons and punishments in nineteenth century Ontario in the Osgoode Society’s Publications Series. Professor Oliver’s book draws on a huge range of previously unexplored primary sources to offer a narrative and interpretive account of the origins and early development of Ontario’s penal system. It should be emphasized that this study was undertaken quite independently of the Osgoode Society, of which Professor Oliver is editor-in-chief, and publication was already in progress through the University of Toronto Press before the Society’s directors requested that “Terror to Evil-Doers” become a Society publication.“Terror to Evil-Doers” is the first Society publication to deal in an extended fashion with the theme of prisons and punishments. Its focus is on the purposes and internal management of Ontario’s gaols, intermediate prisons and penitentiary. By synthesizing a wealth of new material into a comprehensive framework, this important book lays the groundwork for future students and scholars of Canadian history, criminology and sociology.
