Thriller writer Lee Child is backing a scheme to send nearly half a million books to prisons across Britain this autumn.
Child, the UK's first prison reading laureate and author of the Jack Reacher series, said the drive addresses reoffending and supports rehabilitation through improved literacy skills.
The Reading Agency charity will deliver the initiative as part of its Quick Reads programme. Eleven short books will be distributed, with titles selected with input from both prisoners and prison staff. Every cell across the prison estate in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will receive a copy, and additional stock will go to prison libraries.
Child told the Guardian the scheme offers a practical way to tackle reoffending through literacy support.