“ [A] well-written and imaginatively crafted monograph. . . . Paton treats us to a model of how historians work. She reviews the scholarship and sources of evidence already in place and then breaks new ground of discovery and interpretation.” — Bruce M. Taylor , History
“No Bond but the Law represents a remarkably rounded contribution not only to the history of Jamaica but also to an understanding of the history of punishment and of the evolution of racism in the 19th century. . . . [T]his work, in exploring issues of crime and punishment during a formative period of Jamaica’s history, throws much light on the dire situation of today. The legacy of the Cold War politics of the 1970s and the exponential growth of narcotics trafficking in the region may have exacerbated the crime problem, but its roots evidently lie much deeper in the past.” — Jonathan Dalby, Punishment and Society
“[A] timely contribution. . . . [An] obvious strength is Paton’s expertise at showing how race, class and gender intersected and helped to determine the experiences of those who were either recipients of punishment, or who determined the nature of punishment in the country. The result is that readers are provided with a rich analysis from various vantage points. . . . No Bond but the Law can be seen to have contemporary relevance, standing as it does as a challenge to current governments to interrogate the national discourse regarding punishment, crime, and the ideas held about people construed in the national imagination as criminals.” — Dawn Blissett , Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies
“[A]mbitious and stimulating….This theoretical contribution of Paton’s book is a strong example of how colonial scholarship can produce unexpected insights into the mainstream of European history.” — John Savage , Latin America and the Caribbean
“[A]n important contribution to several bodies of scholarship. . . . No Bond but the Law shows the centrality of [race and gender] to the process of state formation in Jamaica and to the creation of a prison system in the island. This book is a must-read to legal historians, whatever their geographical area of concentration, and to scholars of race and gender in the Americas.” — Alejandro de la Fuente , Labor
“[T]he strength of the book is its exciting contribution to the study of gender and race as the authors suggest pertinent methodologies applicable to other subaltern and colonial contexts. . . . Most significantly, the volume breaks new ground by demonstrating how historians can balance attention to gender, race, and labor relations around the often false divide of political emancipation.” — Rachel Sarah O’Toole , Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History
“[The book] is sufficiently innovative to earn [it] a permanent place in the historiography of the Caribbean, law and punishment, and gender studies.” — Robert J. Stewart , Hispanic American Historical Review
“Paton argues convincingly that punishment was always gendered and raced. . . . These are important contributions and this book deserves to be widely read and discussed.” — Catherine Hall , Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History
“Paton details the position of the colonized and the imprisoned in this study of Jamaican state formation, thus expanding the historiography of imperialism and contributing to the field of law and society.” — Dawn Rae Flood , Journal of Women's History
“Paton’s historiography succeeds in showing how the forms of punishment that characterized Jamaia between 1780-1870 emerged out of struggle as well as ideology. . . . Her use of the work of Marx, Gramsci, and Foucault to fashion her theoretical framework is illuminating.” — Cynthia Mahabir , Law and History Review
“This book … sheds valuable new light on the tensions and conflicts that accompanied the transition from a slave to a free-labour economy. It also highlights the ways in which ideas regarding punishment, discipline and labour traversed the Atlantic and the British empire.” — Christer Petley , History
"[E]xcellent. . . . Paton's argument is carefully crafted, and she uses gender successfully as a way of moving forward her interpretation of the rule of law." — B.W. Higman , American Historical Review
"[T]his well-researched and fluently-written book is a model of what histories of slavery and emancipation should do: focus on the links between metropole and colony; invoke multiple categories of analysis; give as much weight to the voice of the colonized as that of the colonizer; and challenge existing interpretations. . . . [T]he book [makes] a substantial contribution to the scholarship on slavery, emancipatin, and punishment." — Henrice Altink, Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History
"This book is a must-read for all political aspirants in Jamaica, and all students of Jamaican politics or history. The book in its entirety, including its 50 pages of endnotes, makes for excellent reading and gives an insight into where we are coming from and where we need to go, as we seek to continuously reform Jamaica for the better." — Marcus Goffe , Jamaica Gleaner
“No Bond but the Law is a model of research procedure and historical writing.” — Sidney Mintz, author of Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History
“No Bond but the Law is one of the most interesting and intellectually ambitious works of scholarship to be published in the field of slave and emancipation studies in recent years. Diana Paton has written a book that takes several important conceptual matters and historiographies—emancipation, punishment, gender, and state formation—and puts them together in a remarkably compelling and original way.” — Steven Hahn, author of A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migr