Bøker av Paul Laxton

Motor Neurone Disease is a vile affliction that gradually robs the sufferer of all their independence and dignity, locking both invalid and carer into a death spiral. This book charts one couple's journey and its brutal physical and emotional impact. Despite being an always fatal condition, MND enjoysonly Cinderella status in respect of both research funding and charitable giving. As such all the royalties from this book will be donated to MND Association. It charts also the truism that fighting a terminal illness is only a part of your battle when you run up against those great organs of the British state; the local authority and the NHS. As it turned out my wife died before we got into any battles about funding, but there was no avoidingconflict with the NHS, with Covid and the response to it as an inescapable backcloth. The book charts the emotionally exhausting battle with bureaucrats, when our freedoms were surrendered to an unfeeling officialdom that at times seemed drunk on its power. I am reminded of the words of Benjamin Franklin; 'Those who choose safety over liberty deserve neither.' This book is a microcosm of how we were governed during the pandemic.

The book is written from the perspective of a participant observer. It is not strictly an autobiography or a history, although it has elements of both, as it would fail without them. It is intended for both the general reader and criminal justice professionals. My intention is that the book is educational, showing the prison system over three decades in the context of social, political and organisational change, in particular the impact of the decline of deference, the growth of public managerialism and the rise of political correctness. The trenchant opinions expressed are based on intellectual rumination, observation of human behaviour, and personal and professional experience. I have deliberately chosen a thematic approach for the book so that explanation and information work in tandem, giving a unique insight into the modern prison service and the workings of the public sector.

Dr Henry Littlejohn's Report on the Sanitary Condition of Edinburgh (1865) was a landmark in public health administration, with a significance far beyond the boundaries of Edinburgh. This book reproduces the complete, original Report, and describes fully its pivotal role in the development of public health management in Victorian cities.