Early American Crime

An article I recently wrote for the British online magazine, New Politic, is now available online. The article, “The Criminal Origins of the United States of America,” is about Britis...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/in-the-media/article-in-new-politic

An exploration of crime, criminals, and punishments from America’s past

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/convict-transportation/convicts-to-maryland-1773

Anyone with an interest in crime history must visit Alcatraz while in San Francisco (My daughter said after our tour, “Of all the prisons I have visited, this one definitely ranks in the top th...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/places-and-events/early-american-crime-in-sf

With so much information on the Web about Alcatraz, I feel little need to write about my recent visit to this historical prison. But given my latest articles on prison food, I can not pass up pos...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/prisons-and-punishments/dining-at-alcatraz

As a follow-up to my last post on “A Foodie Look at Early Prison Food,” I decided to find out more about food served in early American prisons. During my research, I came across a des...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/prisons-and-punishments/prison-food-recipes

Curious about what early prison food was like? This 3:43 minute video from Zagat’s “Bizarre Bites: Prison Food Taste Tests” takes viewers on a brief tour of American prison food from the 18...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/in-the-media/prison-food

My new book, Early American Criminals: An American Newgate Calendar, Chronicling the Lives of the Most Notorious Criminal Offenders from Colonial America and the New Republic, has been published ...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/uncategorized/now-available-early-american-criminals

It has been a long time since I have posted on this website, but that is because I have been hard at work writing my next book. Now, I am thrilled to announce the forthcoming publication of Early...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/uncategorized/forthcoming-book-early-american-criminals

Constable Mr. Van Gelder was just about to abandon his search. He had recently been sent to New Haven, CT to find Francis Personel by New York City mayor Whitehead Hicks, who had learned that Per...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/criminals/francis-personel

The punishment of forcing convicts to step on a treadmill–a large, long rotating cylinder with steps attached along the outside–failed to take hold in America, even though England used it suc...

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/prisons-and-punishments/crank-mill