This book is a comparative study of the Dutch penal system with the one in England and Wales. The Dutch system has, for many years, been upheld to the world as an example of a system designed around a humane and enlightened policy towards criminal offenders. The belief has not been put to the test empirically. The author spent several periods at work within the Dutch system. Concentrating on the prisons, he examined the policy and practice, and compared them with those in prisons in England and Wales. The result is a critique of Dutch penal policy and a comparison with policy in England and Wales.