Prisoner Of The Rock

Each day we saw the outside world in all its splendour, and each day that view served as a reminder that we had wasted and ruined our lives. Jim Quillen, AZ586 - a runaway, problem child and petty thief - was jailed several times before his twentieth birthday. In August 1942, after escaping from San Quentin, he was arrested on the run and sentenced to forty-five years in prison, and later transferred to Alcatraz. This is the true story of life inside America's most notorious prison - from terrifying times in solitary confinement to daily encounters with 'the Birdman', and what really happened during the desperate and deadly 1946 escape attempt.

Monaco et le prisonnier du Rocher. Luigi Ciardelli En collaboration avec Corinne Héron-Mimouni, agent pénitentiaire. Placé sous les verrous en France pour braquage, Luigi Ciardelli est en route, extradé vers l'Italie, pour purger sa peine, lorsque le camion pénitentiaire dévie vers Monaco. La justice monégasque veut le récupérer. Considéré comme l'ennemi numéro 1, LUigi Ciardelli se retrouve emprisonné dans l'une des prisons la plus discrète du monde : celle de Monaco. On suit le confit qui, dès le début, l'oppose à l'administration monégasque qui refuse de l'envoyer dans une prison italienne. Le bras de fer est inégal, et Luigi Ciardelli n'aura dès lors qu'un seul but : s'évader. Dans son projet d'évasion, il entraîne un ancien marine américain. L'auteur devient alors le personnage d'un réel roman d'aventure. L'évasion est réussie. Le Rocher est ébranlé. Des explications s'imposent. S'est-il évadé sans aide extérieure ? Une rumeur de complot commence à planer sur la Principauté. Ce document vécu, d'un homme qui accepte de témoigner, est l'occasion de réfléchir au thème de la justice sous un aspect jamais abordé. La peine de prison, seule réponse à la délinquence, n'est plus vue à travers le délabrement des prisons françaises et laisse ainsi l'auteur s'exprimer sur la notion d'enfermement. Un sujet intemporel. Luigi Ciardelli a prêté sa plume à Corinne Héron-Mimouni, auteur notamment de Matonne aux éditions Ramsay.

In this fascinating autobiographical account, Jim Quillen tells the amazing story of his decade incarcerated in America's most infamous prison -- how he got there, how he stayed alive inside, and, most important, how he found the inspiration and courage to get out.

Escape from Alcatraz: Farewell to the Rock, was published in 1963 just weeks before the last prisoner was escorted off Devil's Island and Alcatraz. The book chronicles details the Rock's transition from a Spanish fort to the maximum-security prison that housed infamous inmates including Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", and mobster Al Capone. Also included are the escape attempts by Frank Morris and two accomplices, becoming the basis for the 1979 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. Author J. Campbell Bruce (1906-1996) was a feature writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, a lecturer, and a regular contributor to national magazines.

Investigates the 1962 escape of three prisoners from Alcatraz, paying special attention to the role played by prisoner Allen West, and speculates about whether the men survived their escape attempt.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the prison written by officials and inmates *Describes the various parts of the prison, the Battle of Alcatraz, and escape attempts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "It's mighty good to get up and leave. This Rock ain't good for nobody." - Frank Weatherman, the last prisoner to leave in 1963 Just a little over 2 kilometers offshore from the sparkling waters of the San Francisco Bay lies a humble strip of 22-acre land. Squawking pelicans, seagulls, and pigeons soar over the mysterious island, which is hugged by dense, salty fog. This island, of course, is Alcatraz. Alcatraz Island has been home to a lighthouse, a military fort, a national park, and gatherings of Native American protesters, but say the name Alcatraz to any American and they will immediately associate it with prison. With the likes of Al Capone, Robert "Birdman" Stroud, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and James "Whitey" Bulger gracing the inmate roster, many quickly associated toughness with the prison. Not before long, legendary stories began surfacing from the island penitentiary, both true and fiction. The island was a federal prison for only three decades, but in that time, "The Rock" became notorious for being the most secure prison in the nation. In that time, 3 dozen prisoners tried to escape, which led to the "Battle of Alcatraz" and some of the most complex plots ever made to bust out, but nobody ever successfully escaped The Rock, and several died trying. As one commenter poignantly put it, "You break the rules, you go to prison. You break the prison rules, you go to Alcatraz Prison." Another writer echoed this sentiment, calling Alcatraz "the great garbage can of San Francisco Bay, into which every federal prison dumped its most rotten apples." In a sense, it was fitting that Alcatraz became the most famous prison in American history, because hundreds of years before the penitentiary was located there, it was being used by Native Americans to banish members. Thanks to the strong currents near it and the cold, inhospitable terrain of the small island, Native Americans only used it sparingly, and unruly members were often sent there as punishment. While local Native Americans referred to it as "Evil Island," the island got its most famous name from Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, who mapped the Bay in 1775 and named the island "La Isla de los Alcatraces" ("The Island of the Pelicans"). Although pelicans no longer call the island home, a French explorer in the early 19th century confirmed that the island was "covered with a countless number of these birds. A gun fired over the feathered legions caused them to fly up in a great cloud and with a noise like a hurricane." Like the Native Americans, the Spanish barely used the island, but given its location, the island would eventually have military value. The federal government eventually established a fort on the island, and it was soon used to hold Confederate prisoners during the Civil War. During the war, one Union supporter gloated over the news that one Confederate sympathizer "will be transported to the healthful but breezy atmosphere of Alcatraz Island, where he can ruminate ad nauseum and chew the bitter end of treason." For all of these reasons, Alcatraz has a unique legacy and it remains a fixture of American pop culture. Indeed, it remains one of San Francisco's most popular tourist destinations. As a former captain of the guards, Philip Bergen, put it, "The public never wanted to know that real Alcatraz. Even today after the prison has been closed for so many decades, the public just won't let go of the myths." Alcatraz: The History of America's Most Notorious Island and Prison examines the colorful and controversial past of Alcatraz. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Rock like never before.