<P><B>“Earnest, free of jargon, lucid…This is a book that ought to be read by anyone concerned about crime and punishment in America.”—The Washington Post Book World<BR><BR></B><B>A Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize<BR><BR></B>When <I>Crime and Punishment in America</I> was first published in 1998, the national incarceration rate had doubled in just over a decade, and yet the United States remained—by an overwhelming margin—the most violent industrialized society in the world. <BR><BR>Today, there are several hundred thousand more inmates in the penal system, yet violence remains endemic in many American communities. In this groundbreaking and revelatory work, renowned criminologist Elliott Currie offers a vivid critique of our nation’s prison policies and turns his penetrating eye toward recent developments in criminal justice, showing us the path to a more peaceable and just society. Cogent, compelling, and grounded in years of original research, this newly revised edition of <I>Crime and Punishment in America</I> will continue to frame the way we think about imprisonment for years to come.