"Ward has collected the most impressive documentation anywhere on the workings of a prison. A unique and wonderful work of sociology and history."--Howard Becker, author of Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance and Art Worlds

"This groundbreaking history of the country's most notorious prison is the first to give an in-depth analysis of the interaction between the guards and the prisoners. Ward captures the Alcatraz experience with the accuracy of someone who has practically been there and lays to rest many of the myths that have grown up around the prison. No longer will the story-tellers be able to describe the inmates as 'the worst of the worst' without qualification. Their individual stories come alive as the author records the varied life experiences that brought them to Alcatraz and describes their coping mechanisms. A unique and fascinating study."--Morton Sobell, Alcatraz Inmate #AZ699 1950-1963, author of On Doing Time