{"product_id":"damnation-island-stacy-horn-9781616209353","title":"Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Enthralling; it is well worth the trip.\" --\u003ci\u003eNew York Journal of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen, New York's Blackwell's Island, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals, quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, \"a lounging, listless madhouse.\" Digging through city records, newspaper articles, and archival reports, Stacy Horn tells a gripping narrative through the voices of the island's inhabitants. We also hear from the era's officials, reformers, and journalists, including the celebrated undercover reporter Nellie Bly. And we follow the extraordinary Reverend William Glenney French as he ministers to Blackwell's residents, battles the bureaucratic mazes of the Department of Correction and a corrupt City Hall, testifies at salacious trials, and in his diary wonders about man's inhumanity to his fellow man. \u003ci\u003eDamnation Island\u003c\/i\u003e shows how far we've come in caring for the least fortunate among us--and reminds us how much work still remains.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Stacy Horn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1616209356\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781616209353\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Algonquin Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/14\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.80d","brand":"Stacy Horn","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43991716364543,"sku":"9781616209353","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_1d50ca18-14d3-49d1-9e01-f673b1c5df12.jpg?v=1683311814","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/damnation-island-stacy-horn-9781616209353","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}