"Enthralling; it is well worth the trip.†--New York Journal of Books Conceived as the most modern, humane incarceration facility the world had ever seen, New Yorkâ€s Blackwellâ€s Island, site of a lunatic asylum, two prisons, an almshouse, and a number of hospitals, quickly became, in the words of a visiting Charles Dickens, "a lounging, listless madhouse." Digging through city records, newspaper articles, and archival reports, Stacy Horn tells a gripping narrative through the voices of the islandâ€s inhabitants. We also hear from the eraâ€s officials, reformers, and journalists, including the celebrated undercover reporter Nellie Bly. And we follow the extraordinary Reverend William Glenney French as he ministers to Blackwellâ€s residents, battles the bureaucratic mazes of the Department of Correction and a corrupt City Hall, testifies at salacious trials, and in his diary wonders about manâ€s inhumanity to his fellow man. Damnation Island shows how far weâ€ve come in caring for the least fortunate among usâ€"and reminds us how much work still remains.