Battle at Alcatraz: A Desperate Attempt to Escape the Rock
After months of planning, six inmates attempted to escape from the infamous Alcatraz prison in May 1946. Although their plan was thoroughly thought out, it failed because the key needed for escape from the cell block was missing. Instead, a battle ensued between the inmates and the prison authorities. The author is the son of one of the guards taken hostage that day. When the plan failed, the guards were shot so that there would be no witnesses. Miraculously, though, the hostages were only wounded and kept still, pretending to be dead. In the meantime, the inmates fought to the bitter end: three died in the battle, and the other three eventually stood trial. Lageson thoroughly researched this tragedy, giving the reader a real feeling of what happened that day. Although he does give the readers an update of the principal characters involved, he fails to follow up on the aftermath of the incident. Nevertheless, libraries with an interest in prison history will probably want this for their collections.AMichael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, NCCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.