The Bodley Head acquires criminologist Shona Minson's 'case for change'
The Bodley Head has acquired Oxford criminologist Shona Minson’s debut trade non-fiction, Imprisoned: The Case for Change. In one of her first acquisitions assistant editor Laura Reeves acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Milly Reilly at Colwill & Peddle.
The book takes readers inside UK prisons and tells the story of those whose lives are most affected by them, from incarcerated individuals to prison workers to families on the outside. The publisher called Imprisoned a "radical, empathetic and passionate call to rethink our criminal justice and punishment systems for a fairer, better and more humane Britain".
Minson is a research associate at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Criminology and previously she was a criminal and family barrister at 1KBW in London. In 2025, she was appointed to the government’s Women’s Justice Board.
Reeves said: "It’s clear that our current crime and punishment system is broken. Not only is Minson an incredibly thoughtful and compassionate writer but having worked at the frontline of this crisis for her entire working life – both as a barrister and now as a leading academic – she is the ideal person to show us a better way forward. Imprisoned is a powerful book of stories and protest, and I am exceptionally proud to be publishing such an important work."
Minson said: "As a criminologist I have specialised in the consequences of punishment, and I am delighted to be working with The Bodley Head to bring this work to a wide and diverse audience. Many countries, including Britain, are committed users of imprisonment, but much of our public understanding is derived from fictional representations. This book will move the reader from imagination to reality to imagined alternatives, as it tells real stories from behind and beyond bars and tackles the questions we urgently need new answers for."
