Much of Bentham's correspondence of this period is concerned with his persistent but eventually unsuccessful efforts to secure the implementation of his Panopticon penitentiary scheme. The letters also throw light on his work in other fields, especially public finance and the reform of the police. These letters provide interesting insights into Bentham's activities at this critical juncture in his career, and since approximately eighty percnet of the letters are published for the first time, Dinwiddy's volume will be invaluable to future Bentham students.