Book Review: The Warehouse

James William Kilgore (author) and Vic Liu (graphic artist), The Warehouse: a visual primer on mass incarceration. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2024. ISBN: 9798887440422. 

Genre: primers, reference

Subgenre: mass incarceration, criminal justices, social justice, sociology, politics

Format: trade paperback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College  

 

The book's epigraph, which sets up the rest of the book very well: 

 

"All over the world, the institution of the prison serves as a place to warehouse people  who represent major social problems. . . . Prison serves as an institution that consolidates the state's inability and refusal to address the most pressing social problems of this era." --Angela Davis, Freedom is a constant struggle.

 

As the subtitle states, this is a "visual primer on mass incarceration." There are many books, articles, and resources on mass incarceration. An average reader may feel a bit overwhelmed, wondering where to start. I suggest anyone wanting to learn about the topic to start with this book. 

The book is arranged in three major parts: 

• The Big Picture.
• Journey Through Incarceration.
• Dismantling the System and Building Anew. 

The book combines text, statistics, and visual elements to take readers on a learning journey. Part One gives the big picture of what is mass incarceration, its history in the United States, and how it works. The second part takes readers through the process of incarceration from arrest to imprisonment. Part three looks at how the systems of mass incarceration can be dismantled. 

This is a very accessible book. The combination of visual elements such as graphs, art, and photos with text works well to make the book easy to read. The combination also works well to emphasize key points, which helps readers remember what they learn. 

On campus, we often have at least one or two students in fields like social justice and sociology researching the topic. This is a book I can give them to provide a good start. In addition to the information, the book features a good set of note that students can use to read further and add other sources to their research. Thus I recommend the book for academic libraries, especially for undergraduate programs. 

I would also recommend it for public libraries. This can be a good resource for patrons seeking to learn about the topic in a well written, well researched, and visual way. The author is a researcher and activist who has written another book on the topic, A People's Guide to Mass Incarceration. The visual artist has experience using art and visuals to convey complex topics. They are a good team to teach readers on this topic. 

Overall this is an accessible, excellent, and very informative book. 

5 out of 5 stars.