“Katherine Judith Anderson’s necessary new book Twisted Words: Torture and Liberalism in Imperial Britain carefully examines the rhetoric and realities of torture in the nineteenth-century Anglophone world. … Anderson, by turns attuned to the breakdown of liberalism in the form of torture and alive to the benefits of citizenship under liberal democracy, tells the story of nineteenth-century torture to dramatise its relevance for today.” —Katherine Voyles, Victoriographies
“In this innovative and original study, Katherine Judith Anderson explores the intimate entwinement, and evolution of, torture … Will prove of value to scholars in a wide range of disciplines.” —Deana Heath, Critical Studies on Terrorism
“Anderson’s insightful and thorough use of Victorian periodicals and newspapers, along with other literary and printed historical sources, reveals how torture was imbricated in Britons’ daily lives. … Anderson’s impressive interdisciplinary analysis demonstrates how scholars can benefit from methods of literary analysis and the tools of neighboring disciplines to enrich our understanding of the past.” —Daniel Gorman, Journal of Interdisciplinary History