Great Books Written in Prison: From Plato to MLK

This Olio looks at some of the great books written in prison and the wide-ranging yet concise history of the failure to silence voices of dissent. Many important historical figures were imprisoned for promoting unpopular or dangerous ideas. Some used their time behind bars to write books that shaped the course of history.

The talk offers an examination of influential works written—in whole or in part—while their authors were in prison or exile. We’ll look at the texts and a short history of the development of the modern prison system along with the circumstances that landed these authors in prison. We’ll discuss works by authors like Plato, Thomas Paine, Gandhi, Thoreau, Bertrand Russell, Hitler and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Teacher: Ward Regan

Ward Regan has a Ph.D. in Labor and Cultural History from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He teaches history and philosophy at New York University Liberal Studies and Global Liberal Studies Program. He wrote and widely performed his own show, A Paranoid’s Guide to History.

Molasses Books

770 Hart St, Brooklyn, NY 11237

Free