PRISON DIARY (VOLUME 1)

'THE SUN IS SHINING THROUGH THE BARS OF MY WINDOW ON WHAT MUST BE A GLORIOUS SUMMER DAY. I'VE BEEN INCARCERATED IN A CELL FIVE PACES BY THREE FOR TWELVE AND A HALF HOURS, AND WILL NOT BE LET OUT AGAIN UNTIL MIDDAY; EIGHTEEN AND A HALF HOURS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. THERE IS A CHILD OF SEVENTEEN IN THE CELL BELOW ME WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH SHOPLIFTING - HIS FIRST OFFENCE, NOT EVEN CONVICTED - AND HE IS BEING LOCKED UP FOR EIGHTEEN AND A HALF HOURS, UNABLE TO SPEAK TO ANYONE. THIS IS GREAT BRITAIN IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, NOT TURKEY, NOT NIGERIA, NOT KOSOVO, BUT BRITAIN.' ON THURSDAY 19 JULY 2001, AFTER A PERJURY TRIAL LASTING SEVEN WEEKS, JEFFREY ARCHER WAS SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN JAIL. HE WAS TO SPEND THE FIRST TWENTY-TWO DAYS AND FOURTEEN HOURS IN HMP BELMARSH, A DOUBLE A-CATEGORY HIGH-SECURITY PRISON IN SOUTH LONDON, WHICH HOUSES SOME OF BRITAIN'S MOST VIOLENT CRIMINALS. THIS IS THE AUTHOR'S DAILY RECORD OF THE TIME HE SPENT THERE.