Jolene Babyak's excellent account of the famed 1962 Great Escape from the Rock.

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Product Description

Taut, suspenseful account of June 1962 Alcatraz "escape of the century" when three men disappeared.

Showing security lapses, staff morale, moderizations, building deteriorations and risky behavoir which led to the closing of the Rock.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259971 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 276 pages

From Publishers Weekly
At 15, Jolene Babyak (Eyewitness on Alcatraz) was living on Alcatraz with her warden father when four prisoners famously attempted escape in 1962, digging through walls and disappearing forever on a homemade raft all except Allen West, who was caught, and to whom Babyak attributes the initial plan. In Breaking the Rock: The Great Escape from Alcatraz, Babyak recounts factors that made the attempt possible including crumbling facilities (due in part to salt-water toilets, whose leaking pipes eroded the concrete walls), new four-man dining tables (providing the escapees with privacy), a closed-down armed-guard tower and endless, painstaking planning by the prisoners. Numerous interviews with inmates and guards who knew the escapees, extensive investigation and Babyak's personal interest in and access to the events distinguish this account. Ninety-six b&w photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Once the most infamous prison in the world, Alcatraz today is a tourist attraction across the bay from San Francisco. On a 22-acre battleship-shaped sandstone rock, Alcatraz defied escape attempts. Yet in 1962, there was a successful escape by three men. Babyak (The Ten Greatest Escapes) was a child at the time, living on the Rock with her father, acting warden Arthur Dollison. Combining her firsthand knowledge with newly released Alcatraz documents, she recapitulates the events surrounding the escape and speculates about what happened to the men, who were never heard from again. The mastermind, she thinks, was Allen West, a wily, longtime con who got Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin to join him. West's plans were brilliant in detail, including building a raft and leaving lifelike heads on the men's cots. Ironically, the plans were helped by Dollison's relaxing of some of the more stringent security rules and by errors made by the Alcatraz staff. In suspenseful detail, Babyak describes the course of events leading up to the fateful telephone call received by her father on the morning of June 12. West chickened out at the last minute, leaving him to say to everyone who would listen that he had "broken the Rock." Did the other three make it to safety? Babyak suspects that they did not. Yet what exactly happened remains a mystery that prison buffs can ponder. This is essential for all crime collections and, considering its lively cover, should do well in public libraries. Frances Sandiford, Green Haven Correctional Facility Lib., Stormville, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Jolene Babyak has beome one of the most knowledgeable authorities on The Rock, having interviewed and viewed the files of more than 175 people associated with Alcatraz. She also lived their briefly twice as a child, during when her father worked there for nine years, and one year as associate warden.

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Customer Reviews

An amazing inside view of those that lived on the "rock."
This is a truly fasinating account of what really took place on Alcatraz. It not only told about the inmates but about the families of the guards that actually lived on the island. Having grown up in San Francisco during the time that the author writes about, I remember the "rock" as always being this quasi mysterious island that seemed to be so close to the mainland and yet held some of the worst criminals. I thouroughly enjoyed getting an inside look at Alcatraz from the eyes of someone who actually lived there.

Barbara Birchim, author of Is Anybody Listening? A True Story About POW/MIAs In The Vietnam War

Was "The Great Escape from Alcatraz" really "Great"?
I got this book from Mrs. Babyak herself while visiting Alcatraz. I always believed or had hoped (based on "Escape from Alcatraz") that Frank Morris and company made it. The facts show they did not.

One thing is for sure is that they got off the island. After that it is pretty certain that they drowned. Mrs. Babyak pointed out to me that some folks still commit suicide of the Golden Gate Bridge quite frequently yet their bodies are never discovered. This is the result of certain factors, such as the cold water will make a lifeless body not so buoyant.

Also, because of the confining of the prisoners to small cells in which they only had one hour a day to get out of them, you can imagine how sore they must have been doing all they did just to get out. Mrs. Babyak makes a strong case of this and other reasons convincingly that in all probability they drowned in the Bay that night.

The attempt reminds me of what people are willing to do when any chance of hope dissipates in one's life. Men will pay any price. I still kinda wished that they made it but the odds are against it.

Good book with an exception
While I do think this is a good read with plenty of information, I can name two faults. First, the author uses italics to guess what the people are saying. They are not quotes, but her thoughts of what could have been said. This is a flaw in accuracy because you have to remind yourself that, while it could have been said, it also could not have been said. Secondly, the book was sloppily written. I found numerous spelling mistakes and typos. Overlooking those, it was a good read.