It is the first monograph-length study of the force-feeding of hunger strikers in English, Irish and Northern Irish prisons. It examines ethical debates that arose throughout the twentieth century when governments authorised the force-feeding of imprisoned suffragettes, Irish republicans and convict prisoners.

1. ‘A Prostitution of the Profession’?: The Ethical Dilemma of Suffragette Force Feeding, 1909-1914.-  2. ‘The Instrument of Death’: Prison Doctors and Medical Ethics in Revolutionary-Period Ireland, c.1917.-  3. ‘A Few Deaths from Hunger is Nothing’: Experiencing Starvation in Irish Prisons, 1917-23.-  4. “I’ve Heard o’ Food Queues, but this is the First Time I’ve ever Heard of a Feeding Queue!”: Hunger Strikers, War and the State, 1914-61.-  5. “I Would Have Gone on with the Hunger Strike, but Force Feeding I could not Take”: The Coercion of Hunger Striking Convict Prisoners, 1913-72.-  6: ‘An Experience Much Worse Than Rape’: The End of Force-Feeding?  

This book is the first monograph-length study of the force-feeding of hunger strikers in English, Irish and Northern Irish prisons. It examines ethical debates that arose throughout the twentieth century when governments authorised the force-feeding of imprisoned suffragettes, Irish republicans and convict prisoners. It also explores the fraught role of prison doctors called upon to perform the procedure. Since the Home Office first authorised force-feeding in 1909, a number of questions have been raised about the procedure. Is force-feeding safe? Can it kill? Are doctors who feed prisoners against their will abandoning the medical ethical norms of their profession? And do state bodies use prison doctors to help tackle political dissidence at times of political crisis?This book is Open Access under a CC BY license.

“Ian Miller has produced a meticulously researched history of hunger striking in Britain and Ireland.  This book covers the extent and nature of hunger striking by convicted persons in prisons as well as the more dramatic use of it in political struggles... Out of this comes a fascinating account of individuals and movements who embraced hunger striking throughout the last hundred years.  The book is an excellent forensic examination of the medical and ethical issues hunger striking raises.” (Greta Jones, University of Ulster, UK) “Ian Miller has written a groundbreaking book. It takes the reader beyond the standard studies of hunger strikes adding new perspectives to our understanding of this controversial issue.” (Thomas Hennessey, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK)“Ian Miller has written a ground breaking book. It takes the reader beyond the standard studies of hunger strikes adding new perspectives to our understanding of this controversial issue.” (Thomas Hennessey, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK)

"Ian Miller has produced a meticulously researched history of hunger striking in Britain and Ireland. This book covers the extent and nature of hunger striking by convicted persons in prisons as well as the more dramatic use of it in political struggles... Out of this comes a fascinating account of individuals and movements who embraced hunger striking throughout the last hundred years. The book is an excellent forensic examination of the medical and ethical issues hunger striking raises." (Greta Jones, University of Ulster, UK) "Ian Miller has written a groundbreaking book. It takes the reader beyond the standard studies of hunger strikes adding new perspectives to our understanding of this controversial issue." (Thomas Hennessey, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK) "Ian Miller has written a ground breaking book. It takes the reader beyond the standard studies of hunger strikes adding new perspectives to our understanding of this controversial issue." (Thomas Hennessey, Canterbury Christ Church University, UK) This is an open access book, the electronic versions are freely accessible online.

Meticulously researched and intelligently interpreted Both fascinating and interdisciplinary, it appeals to medical historians, historians of prisons, criminologists, ethicists, moral philosophers, social historians and members of the public The first in-depth look at a neglected area of social history

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