This unusual work by an experienced criminologist challenges the taken-for-granted status and effects of criminal deterrence theory in contemporary justice and punishment worldwide.Using the British justice process as an example, it is a hard-hitting critique of the illusory and dysfunctional outcomes of basing penal policies upon the presumed but un-measureable effectiveness of specific and general deterrence in pursuit of crime control. There are better ways of 'doing justice' without the collateral damage caused by mass incarceration as a means of social protection. These are explained in this analysis.This is a book which every politician should read and internalise, every sentencing official should carefully consider, and every criminal justice practitioner should welcome. It is, quite simply, a 'call to arms' for long-overdue penal reform.