The Damage Done: The True Story of a Brutal Life of Crime in London's Dangerous Underworld

by Peter Woolf

This true story is a searingly honest and gritty portayal of a man who spent most of his life entrenched in a world of violence and depravity and who, against the odds, managed to turn his life around following a life-changing meeting with one of his victims.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 13, 2008

Reviews

[Madeleine Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am lucky enough to know Peter and love the work he does with Restorative Justice. He knows more than anyone how it helped him to totally turn his life of crime around and he now helps others to avoid the path he took.

Inspirational read

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

good

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The true story of a brutal life of crime in London’s dangerous underworld

The blurb on the front of the book pretty much sums it up. Peter takes the reader with him into the slums of London where drugs and crime are an everyday occurance. This is Peters own life laid bare as he exposes what he did for money and drugs and how he felt.

Peter spent more than 18 years of his life in jail for different crimes, so how did he get clean and sober and manage to write a book? What happened to his victims? These questions are answered honestly and thoughtfully as he looks back on a life that was almost wasted. It also explains in detail The Restorative Justice Program and how it works to help offenders, this program had it roots here in Australia.

A very interesting and graphic book. I can’t imagine the courage it took to write something this personal for people to read. Highly recommended if your interests lay in this area of reading

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Not wrong when the book jacket says it is honest & gritty - no hiding the vileness of hard core heroin addiction and the emotional emptiness of a life of con tricks, theft & burglary. But I loved it. I enjoyed the commentary of Restorative Justice - as I work in a system I increasingly don't believe in. Good read.

[James Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fair while since I read this book but I remember being genuinely upset, moved and uplifted by this book. Nothing short of brilliant, this memoir/-account of a man who was broken by addiction and crime and put back together again by restorative justice is gripping and brutal but by the end warming. Definitely worth a read.

[Ungku · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very good book about the a British person life experiences from a young age and through his adult life. Full of gritty, mischievous delinquency, drugs and violence. If your looking for something dark and serious, this may be a suitable book for you. The fact that it is based on a true story makes its more authentic. Cheers.

[Helen]

This book doesn't hold back. Absolutely nothing is sugar-coated in this raw life story. Extremely interesting - with many amusing and peculiar anecdotes wedged between a prose that tells it like it is.

[Mark Gandolfo · Rating 4 out of 5]

gritty true story told of the authors life growing up in a world of crime which introduces him and later fuels his heroin addiction. great powerful story.

[Samantha Singline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read !