Escape from Alcatraz by J. Campbell Bruce

But clearly there wasn’t enough material in the actual escape storyline to merit a whole book. Obviously coming into a book called ‘Escape from Alcatraz’, one expects that most – if not all – of it will be about those guys who actually escaped from Alcatraz and how they did it. Campbell Bruce chronicles in spellbinding detail the absorbing saga of Alcatraz-the 'inescapable' prison-where America's most violent and notorious prisoners resided in tortuous proximity to one of the world's favorite cities. The chapters describing the attempts of Frank Morris and two accomplices became the basis for the 1979 Clint Eastwood film, Escape from Alcatraz. It tells the story of the Rock's transition from a Spanish fort to a maximum-security penitentiary, of life on The Rock, and of fourteen ingenious escape attempts by the prisoners. This gripping true-crime classic was originally written in 1963 and published just weeks after the last prisoner was escorted off Devil's Island, marking the end of Alcatraz's days as a prison. the Birdman: only the most violent, desperate criminals went to Alcatraz Island, often referred to simply as 'The Rock.' This federal prison's conditions were so harsh that escape, riot, even death, were an inmate's only hope. Campbell Bruce died in 1996.Mobster Al 'Scarface' Capone 'Machine Gun' Kelly Robert Stroud, a.k.a. CAMPBELL BRUCE was a noted feature writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, a lecturer, and a regular contributor to national magazines. Alcatraz hosts more than a million visitors each year.Ībout the Author: In addition to authoring ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ in 1963 and The Golden Door: The Irony of Our Immigration Policy in 1954, J.This story will appeal to Bay Area locals and tourists alike.Includes archival photos of the prison and prison life.The true-crime classic first published in 1963 is reissued in this special edition.Discover the intriguing and absorbing saga of Alcatraz, whose name is still synonymous with punitive isolation and deprivation, where America's most violent and notorious prisoners resided in tortuous proximity to one of the world's favorite cities.

The chapters describing the daring escape attempts by Frank Morris and two accomplices from this 'inescapable' prison became the basis for the 1979 Clint Eastwood movie. Campbell Bruce chronicles in spellbinding detail the Rock's transition from a Spanish fort to the maximum-security penitentiary that housed such infamous inmates as Robert Stroud, aka the Birdman of Alcatraz, and mobster Al 'Scarface' Capone. In 1963, just weeks before the original publication of this book, the last prisoner was escorted off Devil's Island and Alcatraz ceased to be a prison.

Escape from Alcatraz by J. Campbell Bruce