Charles Bronson writes foreword to Isle of Wight prison book

But when you have notorious criminal Charles Bronson (dubbed Britain's most feared man) writing the foreword to your book and saying nice things about the pair of you, it must make life a little less taxing.

Bronson may have been denied parole after his latest hearing but the violent criminal shows a more sensitive side to his nature in the words and drawings in The Prison Psychiatrist's Wife, Sue Johnson's fascinating account of life as the woman behind a man trying to change attitudes in Parkhurst Prison, then a maximum security prison for some of Britain's most violent men.

Bronson writes: "I enjoyed it cos it's so unique. Simply as it's a wife on the outside with a story of how it feels for her husband to have such a crazy job.

Charles Bronson's illustrations in Sue Johnson's book, The Prison Psychiatrist's Wife. (Image: Charles Bronson)

"When 'Dr Bob' went to work, she never knew if he would come home with holes in him or in a zip-up bag."

Bronson's words preface a thought-provoking read by the wife of Bob Johnson, a psychiatrist who was brought in by the liberal governor John Marriott, with the aim of getting inside the heads of the man in the prison's psychiatric wing...which, at the time, was housing the men even Rampton and Broadmoor couldn't deal with.

His battles with authority and the journey of his time in the prison are carefully documented and Sue's excellent writing style makes it unputdownable.

It is a wonderful look at the prison system of the 1990s and an Isle of Wight prison very different in its make up than the modern-day, downgraded jail.

The Prison Psychiatrist's Wife by Sue Johnson is published by Waterside Press.