The Big Read: The most humane prison in the world

The civilised Halden prison in Norway prepares inmates for life after jail, writes Jessica Benko

Like everything else in Norway, the two-hour drive southeast from Oslo seemed impossibly civilized.

The highways were perfectly maintained and painted, the signs clear and informative and the speed-monitoring cameras primly intolerant. My destination was the town of Halden, which is on the border with Sweden, straddling a narrow fjord guarded by a 17th-century fortress.