Sean McConville

Seán McConville has spent much of his (professional) life in and around prisons and has written extensively about prison life and crime and punishment in general. This includes a series on the history of punishment, from the eighteenth century until modern times; he has also published on prison architecture.  Other interests include Islamic law, and political violence and terrorism.
Writing about conscionable offenders (from anti-vaccinationists and female suffragists to public order offenders such as street preachers as well as conscientious objectors and other rebellious souls) led on to three substantial books on Irish political prisoners. That in turn took him to the history of the recent conflict and peace process and to interview-based work on both.
Seán has for many years been a law professor at Queen Mary, University of London.. He broadcasts regularly and contributes to newspapers in the UK, the US (where he worked for ten years) and in Ireland.