MACMILLAN Crimes and Punishments and Bernard Shaw (Bernard Shaw and His Contemporaries)

This book analyzes the interaction of crimes, punishments, and Bernard Shaw in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explores crimes committed by professional criminals, nonprofessional criminals, businessmen, believers in a cause, the police, the Government, and prison officials. It examines punishments decreed by judges, juries, colonial governors, commissars, and administered by the police, prison warders, and prison doctors. It charts Shaw's view of crimes and punishments in dramatic writings, non-dramatic writings, and his actions in real life. This book presents him in the context of his contemporaries and his world, inviting readers to view crimes and punishments in their context, history, and relevance to his ideas in and outside his plays, plus the relevance of his ideas to crimes and punishments in life. Review “A compelling, almost addictive read, it becomes progressively more gruesome, as Dukore progresses through the seamy side of life and society with relentless moral determination.” (Anne wright, The Shavian, Vol. 14 (1), 2018) “The purpose of Crimes and Punishments and Bernard Shaw was to provide ‘gateways’ that will ‘permit the reader to encounter [Shaw’s] drama and ideas in a fresh context.’ It has superbly fulfilled that purpose and will likely stand as the definitive treatment of this important topic.” (Michel Pharand, SHAW The Journal of Bernard Shaw Studies, Vol. 358 (02), 2018) Review “Impressive on both the levels of the very informative historical account of crimes and punishments and of Shaw’s relationship to all this from the opening chapter to the Grand Finale of Chapter 10...This is a very learned, up to date scholarly work. It competes well with the best scholarship on Shaw, is a very useful survey of crime and punishment over the centuries, and its bringing Shaw to a timely trial at the conclusion is masterfully if surprisingly done, leaving crucial questions to be asked and answered by each reader.” (Richard Dietrich, English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 (Volume 62, Number 4, 2019 2019) From the Back Cover This book analyzes the interaction of crimes, punishments, and Bernard Shaw in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explores crimes committed by professional criminals, nonprofessional criminals, businessmen, believers in a cause, the police, the Government, and prison officials. It examines punishments decreed by judges, juries, colonial governors, commissars, and administered by the police, prison warders, and prison doctors. It charts Shaw's view of crimes and punishments in dramatic writings, non-dramatic writings, and his actions in real life. This book presents him in the context of his contemporaries and his world, inviting readers to view crimes and punishments in their context, history, and relevance to his ideas in and outside his plays, plus the relevance of his ideas to crimes and punishments in life. About the Author Bernard F. Dukore is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theatre Arts and Humanities at Virginia Tech, USA. He has directed plays and written numerous books and articles on modern drama, theatre, and cinema. His most recent books are Bernard Shaw: Slaves of Duty and Tricks of the Governing Class (2012) and Shaw’s Theater (2000).