Inside A Brief History Of The Adelaide Gaol

Biography & Memoir History True Crime

Inside a Brief History of the Adelaide Gaol by Sue Scheiffers opens the heavy doors of South Australia’s most notorious 19th-century prison for an illustrated walk-through of its 147 years of operation. The compact 2002 paperback blends true-crime tales with social history, charting the gaol’s evolution from colonial chain-gang site to heritage-listed ruin.

Scheiffers packs the narrative with vivid prisoner case files, warden anecdotes and rare photographs that bring the stone walls and iron bars to life. Readers curious about Australian penal history, local Adelaide stories or criminology will find plenty of detail without academic jargon.

The book is in very good second-hand shape: crisp, unmarked pages, no dog-ears, square spine, and sourced from a smoke-free home. A tidy copy ready for instant enjoyment or gift-giving.