Inside: A Brief History of the Adelaide Gaol
Australian History Local History True Crime Illustrated Reference Criminology Penology & Prisons Regional Interest Architecture & Archaeology
Inside: A Brief History of the Adelaide Gaol is the only stand-alone volume that walks readers through every cell, corridor and gallows beam of South Australia’s 168-year-old prison. Written by former Gaol guide and historian Sue Scheiffers, this 2002 illustrated paperback condenses rare archival plans, warders’ logbooks and prisoner records into a concise, 100-page tour that you can take home long after the site closes its gates. From the first hangings of 1840 to the final transfer of inmates in 1988, the book charts how Adelaide’s sandstone walls witnessed bushrangers, POWs, suffragettes and some of the state’s most infamous murders—making it indispensable for true-crime readers, family-history sleuths and criminology students alike.
What sets this copy apart is its immaculate, unread condition: crisp white pages, no inscriptions, no spine creases and every one of the 60 historic photographs and floor plans intact. Because the Gaol gift-shop print-run was small and never re-issued, clean second-hand copies are now scarce, especially online where most listings are ex-library or heavily thumbed. Owning a near-fine example means you can shelve a piece of Australian penal heritage that appreciates in both collector value and conversation appeal.
Whether you need an authoritative source for a South Australian history assignment, a visually rich guide for your next Adelaide ghost-tour, or a gift for the local-history buff who “already has everything,” Inside delivers the claustrophobic atmosphere, human stories and little-known facts—like why condemned men spent their last night in a chapel-cum-cell—that larger, more expensive histories leave out.
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