This is the fascinating personal account of Barbara Treen's 29 year career as a Prison Governor in four male and two female English prisons and within Prison Service HQ, including her efforts to establish her authority, improve horrific conditions, keep staff and prisoners safe, tackle corruption, and find therapeutic ways to reduce prisoners' risk to the public. Along the way she faces extraordinary challenges including escapes, riots, bomb threats, assaults, hostage taking, industrial action, serious self-injury and suicide.There are plenty of entertaining and very funny stories in these pages but terrible and disturbing times are described too. This is a good read for anyone interested in discovering what really goes on within prisons, and why.
