Prison Diaries from the Concrete Coffin

Reviewed by Noel Smith

What can you say about the irrepressible Charles Bronson that has not already been said? Beaten, constantly transferred from jail to jail, pepper-sprayed, drugged, nutted-off and locked in an isolation cell on the same unit as cannibals and mass murderers, and that only tells a small portion of his story. The fact that the man is still compos mentis enough to write another hugely entertaining book from inside a double-doored cage deep in the bowels of HMP Wakefield’s CSC unit is surely a testament to his status as a true survivor. There cannot be many people left in this country who are not aware of the actions and antics of the man whom the tabloid press have dubbed ‘Britain’s Most Dangerous Prisoner’ over the years. Even High Court Judges, some of whom have to enquire ‘Who are these Beatles chaps?’ have heard of Charlie and his three decade struggle against the prison system. And Prison Diaries is more of the same.

Reproduced in Charlie’s own handwriting and with accompanying artwork Prison Diaries gives a real insight into his day-to-day life in the concrete coffin and how he survives. He describes what it’s like to wake up every morning surrounded by madness and then have to fill his day with small actions and routines that lead only to another day. Despite the obvious humour that is a major part of Charlie’s writing (and sometimes I laughed so much I literally almost pissed myself!) there is no disguising the very real frustration, anger and, yes, even sadness and regret that pepper his prose.

In 2000 Charlie received a discretionary life sentence with a 3 year tariff and has been refused parole despite being 8 years over tariff. He is trying to appeal his sentence as he believes, with some justification, that he will never be granted parole, but obstacles are constantly being placed in his way – from prison staff selling sensational stories about him to the tabloid press to being refused legal aid in order to pursue his appeal. This book chronicles, along with the reproduced official documents, Charlie’s battle for freedom. Could Charles Bronson live in the outside world as a free man? After all he is a talented artist and writer with a large circle of friends and supporters and most of his problems seem to stem from the catch 22 situation of being unable to escape a system in which he is in constant conflict. I personally believe he should be freed. He has not murdered anyone and, in reality, he is far from the ‘mad dog’ portrayed by the press. Imagine how much good he could do just by visiting schools and talking about the despair and futility of pursuing a life of crime and punishment? He already does more for children’s charities than the majority of vacuous self-serving co-called celebrities, and all from inside his concrete coffin.

The blurb on the front cover says – ‘This is my life, my soul, my dreams, my thoughts and my frustration. After reading this book you will know what it is like to be me”. Unfortunately this is partly true – partly, because reading about his life can only ever be a vicarious journey into the world he now inhabits. In order to truly know Charlie’s life you would have to actually live it, and what sane, right-thinking person would really want to put themselves through all that? The overlying message of this book is not to try and emulate the behaviour that landed Charlie in this soul-destroying situation. Charles Bronson has proved strong enough to survive with his spirit and humour intact but others would not be so tenacious or lucky – the young, easily-impressed and feeble-minded should take that into consideration before throwing their own lives down the toilet in some vain pursuit of notoriety. There is only one Charles Bronson.