DARTMOOR Prisoner of War Depot and Convict Jail is the fifth book on the prison by Tavistock-born author Trevor James, who now lives in South Zeal.

Mr James has inside knowledge of the prison ?thankfully not as an inmate! ? but from his ten-year stretch working in the boiler room at the jail. He has also previously worked as a Tavistock Times journalist.

Mr James said he was attracted to write the early history of Dartmoor Prison because it was a story that was ?largely unknown and misunderstood?.

He said: ?It is amazing how many people have the impression Dartmoor was built by prisoners of war, when in fact it was built by private contractors.?

Mr James said the book was a culmination of almost 12 years? work. He had sifted through many original documents at the Public Records Office at Kew, with the help of a researcher, to get an official account of the prison?s history.

?I have tried to set the record straight; I say that very modestly, as I?m not an expert on the prison. There are other people who know far more, and what I have done is put it down in writing,? he said.

?This is the book I have been wanting to write for many years, the other books were successful so I was able to write this one.?

Although Mr James? book begins with the decision to build a prisoner of war depot on Dartmoor and runs right up to the present, he has had to be selective about what has been included, and says writing a complete history of Dartmoor Prison would be an impossible task.

?No one man could write a complete history of the prison, you would need 100 volumes,? he said.

Mr James explores the formation of Princetown as a village, the creation of the prisoner of war depot and the life of the French and American prisoners held there. The second part of the book deals with Dartmoor as a convict prison from 1850 to the present.

It was on May 24, 1809, that almost 2,500 French prisoners were marched up to Dartmoor Depot to become the first inmates at the jail.

Mr James quotes a vivid description of the prison by Rachel Evans, who toured the jail in 1845: ?Walls are so thick that the instrument of release could never pierce them: the light comes dimly through a small iron grating, and the doubly plated door closes with a thundering sound which reverberates through the vaulted cell. It would be cold, heartless misery to sojourn in such a place, even for a short time.?

Mr James describes how gambling provided the main diversion for French prisoners of war with little to do, with some betting everything they had, including their clothes, bedding and rations on races with rats or card games.

Mr James notes the practice got so out of hand, that some men undoubtedly died as a result of gambling all their meagre possessions and rations away.

He also recounts the tragic story of the Princetown Massacre, when several Americans were killed following a misunderstanding between the militia guarding the prison and the Americans whose discontent had been growing following a dispute over bread rations.

All the Americans were fired upon at a time when they were no longer prisoners of war but free men waiting to go home. Confusion over the crucial question of who gave the militia the order to shoot remains to this day.

Dartmoor Prisoner of War Depot and Convict Jail is published by the small independent firm, Orchard Publications. Orchard?s Alan Brunton said he enjoyed working with Mr James, whose books had all sold well. He revealed Mr James was working on two more titles; a revised edition of his previous book on escapes from the jail, and a Dartmoor-based book which would be something of a departure.

Dartmoor Prisoner of War Depot and Convict Jail costs £12.95, and presents an absorbing overview of the history of the prison as well as anecdotes about notorious escapes and characters and is illustrated with many rare photographs and drawings.

Prison governor Graham Johnson attended the book?s official launch at the Prison Museum in Princetown and said he was looking forward to reading his copy of the book.

Alain Sibirl, honoury consul of France and his wife Monique were also among the guests at the book?s launch.