This is an autobiography of penologist Nigel Walker. Before the Great War, the author's mother braved the early Trans-Siberian railway to marry a young vice-consul in China. Born and schooled there in Tientsin, the author was told by the family's Calvinist governess that he was predestined to damnation, which laid the foundations to his atheism. The Japanese invasion forced the family to return to their native Edinburgh. A good classical education there got him a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford. He spent most of 1940 ...
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This is an autobiography of penologist Nigel Walker. Before the Great War, the author's mother braved the early Trans-Siberian railway to marry a young vice-consul in China. Born and schooled there in Tientsin, the author was told by the family's Calvinist governess that he was predestined to damnation, which laid the foundations to his atheism. The Japanese invasion forced the family to return to their native Edinburgh. A good classical education there got him a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford. He spent most of 1940 as an officer cadet before choosing a Highland regiment. Back at the Scottish Office he wrote a PhD thesis on weekends, was Private Secretary to the Earl of Home, and then became responsible for criminal justice, including the death penalty. At Cambridge he succeeded Leon Radzinowicz at the Institute of Criminology, where funds were running short and teaching needed more attention. After refusing an invitation from one college he was made a Professional Fellow of King
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