The Western world stereotypically associates Ottoman or 'Turkish' prisons with images of torture, narcotics and brutal sexual behaviour. Now, Kent F. Schull argues that these prisons were actually a site of immense reform and contestation during the 19th century. It was within these prisons' walls that many of the pressing questions of Ottoman modernity were worked out; questions of administrative centralisation, Islamic criminal law and punishment, gender and childhood, prisoner rehabilitation, bureaucracy, identity and social engineering. By juxtaposing them with the reality of prison life, Schull investigates how state-mandated reforms affected the lives of local prison officials and inmates. He shows how these individuals actively conformed to, contested and manipulated new penal policies and practices for their own benefit.