A01=Lorna Poplak
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architecture Canada
Author_Lorna Poplak
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Boyd Gang
capital punishment
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=BTC
Category=DNXC
Category=HBJK
Category=NHK
COP=Canada
corporal punishment
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
Don Jail
East Toronto
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eq_biography-true-stories
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executions
historical hangings
history of Toronto
incarceration
jail break
John Howard
Language_English
Ontario jails
PA=Available
Price_€10 to €20
prison
prison escapes
prisoners
PS=Active
softlaunch
Toronto stories
Toronto true crime
Upper Canada
warden
William Thomas
Product details
- ISBN 9781459745964
- Weight: 446g
- Dimensions: 152 x 228mm
- Publication Date: 08 Apr 2021
- Publisher: Dundurn Group Ltd
- Publication City/Country: CA
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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An in-depth exploration of the Don Jail from its inception through jailbreaks and overcrowding to its eventual shuttering and rebirth.
Conceived as a “palace for prisoners,” the Don Jail never lived up to its promise. Although based on progressive nineteenth-century penal reform and architectural principles, the institution quickly deteriorated into a place of infamy where both inmates and staff were in constant danger of violence and death. Its mid-twentieth-century replacement, the New Don, soon became equally tainted.
Along with investigating the origins and evolution of Toronto’s infamous jail, The Don presents a kaleidoscope of memorable characters — inmates, guards, governors, murderous gangs, meddlesome politicians, harried architects, and even a pair of star-crossed lovers whose doomed romance unfolded in the shadow of the gallows.
This is the story of the Don’s tumultuous descent from palace to hellhole, its shuttering and lapse into decay, and its astonishing modern-day metamorphosis.
Speaker's Book Award 2021 — Shortlisted | Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book 2022 — Shortlisted
Conceived as a “palace for prisoners,” the Don Jail never lived up to its promise. Although based on progressive nineteenth-century penal reform and architectural principles, the institution quickly deteriorated into a place of infamy where both inmates and staff were in constant danger of violence and death. Its mid-twentieth-century replacement, the New Don, soon became equally tainted.
Along with investigating the origins and evolution of Toronto’s infamous jail, The Don presents a kaleidoscope of memorable characters — inmates, guards, governors, murderous gangs, meddlesome politicians, harried architects, and even a pair of star-crossed lovers whose doomed romance unfolded in the shadow of the gallows.
This is the story of the Don’s tumultuous descent from palace to hellhole, its shuttering and lapse into decay, and its astonishing modern-day metamorphosis.
Speaker's Book Award 2021 — Shortlisted | Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book 2022 — Shortlisted
Lorna Poplak is a writer, editor, and researcher, with a fascination for the stories behind the facts of Canadian history. She lives in Toronto.
