One of the most accuate and comprehensive historical books ever written on the history of Alcatraz.

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Product Description

Alcatraz - A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years is a comprehensive reference with hundreds of pages of historic photographs, documents, and information that breaks away from traditional tourist style books. This book is the result of years of intensive research, and navigates the Island's history through rarely seen documents, interviews, and historic photographs.

Historian Michael Esslinger thoroughly details the prominent events, inmates, and life inside the most infamous prison in American History. His research included hundreds of hours examining actual Alcatraz inmate files (including rare original documents from Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and over a hundred others) exploring the prison grounds from the rooftop to the waterfront to help retrace events, escape routes, in addition to conducting various interviews with former inmates & guards. His study has resulted in detailed accounts of both the 1946 & 1962 Escape attempts. A definitive account of the 1962 escape of Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers provides rare insight extracted through photos, and over 1,700 pages of FBI investigative notes.

Detailed narratives of Alcatraz's most notable inmates who include Robert Stroud (Birdman of Alcatraz), Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Frank Morris, the Anglin Brothers, Doc Barker, Joe Cretzer, Bernard Coy, Miran Thompson, Sam Shockley, and many many others. Alcatraz Federal Prison - A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years, is a comprehensive reference on the history of Alcatraz and contains one of the most comprehensive archives of inmate and prison life photographs (nearly 1,000) from 1934-1963.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #390457 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-28
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 451 pages

Jeanne Cooper, San Francisco Chronicle
"... a greater trove of historical riches and human drama than screenwriters could imagine."

From the foreword by former Alcatraz Inmate Darwin E. Coon.
"Through meticulous research, he has captured the experience of Alcatraz with an authentic voice."

Stephan Mills, Hollywood Reader
"Esslinger's "Alcatraz" stands and delivers on its claim as a definitive history. A masterful work of research."

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Customer Reviews

Interesting acquisition
Carefully packed and shipped this precious and rare book, ALCATRAZ by Michael Esslinger.
We are fully satisfied with this interesting acquisition for our library.
Dr Peter Hofstede, Schatsborg Academy Leermens Groningen The Netherlands.

Oustanding exhaustive research!
Michael Esslinger has put years of hard work in this book and it shows!
Pouring over thousands and thousands of files, he has condensed it into this massive brick of a book ,with hundreds of photos and files that quench the thirst of Alcatraz buffs young and old. I noticed two negative reviews which have no merit! One reviewer looks like they're the one who had the agenda by only having one review, which was a negative one against this fine book. For the other, Of course there is mention of the horrors in the book. It was always well documented that it wasn't a pleasant experience to be in Alcatraz. Just look at the rules and regulations!! Don't forget, it was supposed to be a tough prison of the damned and not Disneyland!!

Excellent! It certainly helped me in my research for my webpage on Alcatraz.

Mario Gomes, founder of myalcaponemuseum.com

America's Devil's Island
I was just at Alcatraz last week and I fail to see the elements to it that so fascinate the public at large. Frankly, it's a good place not to go, even as a tourist. I did buy this book from a stand nearby, however, and I wish I'd read it before my trip to "The Rock" because knowing all this went on there might have made the hours I spent in that bleak spot more meaningful. Esslinger's book is a gritty, slightly sensationalized look at the history of a prison every bit as dreaded and infamous in its era as the Bastille was in its day. Here the main facts everyone knows (the Birdman, Al Capone's tenure) are covered, but so is a lot of other material about the living conditions, the construction, the history of the prison, and the site itself, as well as the factors that brought about its downfall (the expense of running the facility, combined with genuine outcries within the penal system itself that Alcatraz was simply too cruel to use as a storage place for human beings). The desperate escape attempts of a number of doomed prisoners---across frigid, shark-brimming waters---and why they universally failed make for gripping reading, and overall, despite the fact this prison is no longer (at the moment) in operation, information of the sort in this book makes you want to be very good in life.