The Gaol the Story of Newgate London's Most Notorious Prison by Kelly Grovier

This articles seeks to recover a lost visual device proposed in 1812 by the English traveller and materialist philosopher John 'Walking' Stewart, and to explore how the imaginary apparatus participated in a prevailing intellectual climate of ambivalence to which Keats's imagination was particularly responsive. 'The author has a keen eye for the grisly detail.

this book is so good, you'll want to keep your copy under lock and key.” 'A thrilling history of a very English goal. 'Lively history … has a sharp eye for the vivid anecdote and skilfully situates his colourful, tragic and often grim and ghastly characters in the economic, political and social landscape from the Middles Ages to the end of Victoria's reign” 'Gripping … Grovier's treatment of the material organisation of the place is excellent … Newgate's role in the evolution of London, in the creation of crime in the public imagination, in the development of the concept of the prison, is unmatched, and Grovier relates it compellingly” Time Out, 'This Season's Best Art Books' 'this is a great introduction for anyone keen to get to grips with the headline-grabbers of the past two decades.” 'Grovier's commentaries are replete with illuminating and surprising references' 'an unusual, provocative and curiously satisfying guide through the labyrinth of contemporary art' 'magnificent, mind- and eye-opening” 'a beautifully illustrated appraisal of art from 1989 to 2012 that invites reflection on some of the best-known contemporary artists as well as offering some less publicly celebrated works.” 'boldly going where few other art books have gone before” The Daily Telegraph 's 'Best Art Books of the Year' 'the book that generated most debate this year” ' glimpsed the possibility for elegance, intelligence, and surprise … and followed through' 'as hostages to fortunes go, 100 WORKS feels pretty secure.” 'In this impressive volume of 100 influential works produced since 1989 … Grovier provides an ambitious and convincing survey of contemporary art that hovers delightfully between criticism, history, and an art lover’s poetic tribute.” 'Thumbing through this book is like looking at a who’s who of the art world. 'an unimpeachably on-trend look at contemporary art' 'an intelligent selection that doesn't set out to be prescriptive (even if it must, by definition, be definitive)' 'Grovier's whiskers seem pretty accurately cocked to me” Paula Frosch, Library Journal, Metropolitan Museum of Art Library, New York 'a marvelous combination of aesthetic sensibility, poetic imagery, and charming wit … This title is a major addition to the literature of art criticism and philosophy”

The Gaol the Story of Newgate London's Most Notorious Prison by Kelly Grovier