Drugs and violence are rife in our filthy, overcrowded prisons. Women and underage prisoners are treated badly by staff and other prisoners alike. At a huge cost to the taxpayer and to society at large, prisoners repeatedly return to prison after re-offending. Even with greater understanding of why people turn to crime, the British prison service still adopts a Victorian punitive, rather than a rehabilitating, approach. This out-dated attitude must change if the British prison service and justice system are not to reach meltdown. During his time as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham was a thorn in Jack Straw's side. The government imagined he would be submissive; instead, shocked at what he found inside our prisons, he advocated radical reform but his suggestions were barely acknowledged by ministers and officials. In this book, he reveals the truth about Britain's prisons.