DETAILS

240 pages
Published April 1st 2005 by Ten Speed Press (first published 1963)
original title:Escape From Alcatraz

edition language:English

OVERVIEW 

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. Author J. 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. 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. 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 true-crime classic first published in 1963 is reissued in this special edition.Includes archival photos of the prison and prison life.This story will appeal to Bay Area locals and tourists alike.Alcatraz hosts more than a million visitors each year

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. Campbell Bruce was a long-time feature writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and a prolific contributor to many national magazines such as The Reader's Digest and Coronet. His first book, pubished by Random House, was entitled The Golden Door. It dealt with the injustices of the immigration polices in the 1950's in the United States. His second book, Escape from Alcatraz, published by McGraw Hill in 1963 was the basis of the movie of the same name starring Clint Eastwood. J. Campbell Bruce died in 1995 and his love of the creative process was instilled, by nature or nuture, in his children: Kevin, Anthony, and Lisa Bruce.