Joshua Page was born and raised in Southern California. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of California-Santa Barbara and master's and doctorate degrees from the University of California-Berkeley. Page is currently a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Letta Wren and two dogs.

Winner of the Law and Society Association's 2012 Herbert Jacob Book Prize

Honorable Mention, 2013 ASA Sociology of Law Section Distinguished Book Award

"Page is even-handed in his analysis...The Toughest Beat makes for fascinating reading." --Sacramento News and Review

"By linking the penal field to politics, The Toughest Beat joins an emerging literature on the politics of punishing...Page advances this literature by developing a mechanism to trace the interaction of effects of key relationships on penal outcomes. It will certainly influence the direction of future research as scholars try to apply this concept to other times and spaces." --The American Journal of Sociology

"It is refreshing to read an account of prison life and policy that so effectively combines political analysis with sociological research. The Toughest Beat is original, influential and makes a significant contribution to penology, political economy/sociology, criminology and social science more broadly." --Contemporary Sociology