Prison Truth

San Quentin State Prison, California’s oldest prison and the nation’s largest, is notorious for once holding America’s most dangerous prisoners. But in 2008, the Bastille-by-the-Bay became a beacon for rehabilitation through the prisoner-run newspaper the San Quentin News. Prison Truth tells the story of how prisoners, many serving life terms, transformed the prison climate from what Johnny Cash called a living hell to an environment that fostered positive change in inmates’ lives. Award-winning journalist William J. Drummond takes us behind bars, introducing us to Arnulfo García, the visionary prisoner who led the revival of the newspaper. Drummond describes how the San Quentin News, after a twenty-year shutdown, was recalled to life under an enlightened warden and the small group of local retired newspaper veterans serving as advisers, which Drummond joined in 2012. Sharing how officials cautiously and often unwittingly allowed the newspaper to tell the stories of the incarcerated, Prison Truth illustrates the power of prison media to humanize the experiences of people inside penitentiary walls and to forge alliances with social justice networks seeking reform.

Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh knew they were putting their lives on the line. Islamic laws in Iran forbade them from sharing their Christian beliefs, but in three years, they’d covertly put New Testaments into the hands of twenty thousand of their countrymen and started two secret house churches. In 2009, they were finally arrested and held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, a place where inmates are routinely tortured and executions are commonplace. In the face of ruthless interrogations, persecution, and a death sentence, Maryam and Marziyeh chose to take the radical—and dangerous—step of sharing their faith inside the very walls of the government stronghold that was meant to silence them. In Captive in Iran, two courageous Iranian women recount how God used their 259 days in Evin Prison to shine His light into one of the world’s darkest places, giving hope to those who had lost everything and showing love to those in despair.

Michael Harris’s book about life inside prison is hard-hitting, hair-raising, and certain to be hugely controversial. Con Game shows us that Canadian penitentiaries are effectively run by their inmates. Behind bars, gangs control the booming drug trade and mete out their own rough justice to inmates who break their rules. Guards sit by, prevented from interfering by a succession of court rulings that have limited their authority. Wardens and bureaucrats at Corrections Canada, intent on keeping their desks clean, allow prison murders to be written off as suicides. In this sorry state of affairs, too many people in charge of the corrections system are happy to see inmates kept quiet by illegal narcotics; too many are fudging the figures on recidivism; too many are doing nothing to break up the violent social order that prisoners have formed behind the high walls and razor wires that separates “them” from “us.” Most Canadians know very little about our prisons and have no idea how they function. Michael Harris believes that the top levels of bureaucrats have systematically concealed what is really going on. As a result of his investigations, the truth is now out – and our penal system may never be the same. From the Hardcover edition.

'My name is Ronnie Thompson. Being a prison officer was something I used to be proud of. I soon realised the truth of what it's like working as a screw, though. It's a fucking headache. Corruption, danger, violence. Welcome to my world.' Ronnie Thompson was just an ordinary guy. That is, until he became a prison officer. By the time he started work at HMP Romwell, he realised he was actually a nurse, a copper, a probation officer, a carer, a councillor, a social worker and, of course, an incarcerator all in one. Oh, and a punch bag for the cons and bosses. In SCREWED, Ronnie tells it like it is. He reveals what really goes on behind bars - the times when force is necessary and used, and when it is unnecessary but still used. He exposes the underworld of bent screws, the drugs they traffic, the firms they work for and what they get paid for their sins. He shows how it is left down to a small group of officers to control an over-flowing prison, keep an eye out for corrupt govenors, and dodge the deluded human rights campaigners. Ultimately, he shows us that being a good screw doesn't always mean sticking to the rules...

Good Press presents the Civil War Memories Series. This meticulous selection of the firsthand accounts, memoirs and diaries is specially comprised for Civil War enthusiasts and all people curious about the personal accounts and true life stories of the unknown soldiers, the well known commanders, politicians, nurses and civilians amidst the war. "The True Story of Andersonville Prison" represents an important narrative of Andersonville prison in Georgia. The author brings his defense of the prison commander Henry Wirz, who was charged by the U.S. Government and executed after the Civil War. The author's description of the trial, conviction, and execution of Wirz is extremely sympathetic and provides an alternative view of the Confederacy in the Civil War.

Art student Nick Wood risks selling a few Ecstasy tablets at a party to impress friends and ends up with a two year prison sentence. Nick hopes to spend his sentence in an open prison, the type he's read about in the papers. The ones often referred to as 'holiday camps'. Instead, his worst nightmare comes true. Locked up in HMP Blackthorpe, a prison known for its medieval-like squalor, Nick lives at the mercy of the drug barons and in fear of the lifers. Constantly stalked by danger he has to find a way to survive. To earn protection money he turns to the one thing he's good at—art. But can selling pictures to visitors be enough to keep the mob at bay? Or will he be made an example of by the hard men and suffer the worst type of prison punishment? Based on the experiences of the author. ABOUT JOHN HOSKISON: In 1994, bestselling author John Hoskison broke a lifetime rule by drinking and driving and on his way home, he hit and killed a cyclist. As a non-violent first offender, he was told he would serve part of his sentence in an open prison, but was instead consigned to some of the toughest in Britain. John was only able to survive his time in prison through the incredible forgiveness he received from the woman whom he'd made a widow and by the support of friends and family who knew his actions were so out of character. Now John spends time speaking to young people at schools and through community out-reach programs, warning them about taking unnecessary risks and what prison is really like. If anyone is under the illusion that prison is a holiday camp, and that breaking the law just once is worth the risk, read this book. OTHER TITLES by John Hoskison INSIDE: One Man's Experience of Prison A Golf Swing You Can Trust Shooting Lower Scores