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    Summary and Analysis of Escape from Alcatraz: The True Crime Classic: Based on the Book by J. Campbell Bruce
    Summary and Analysis of Escape from Alcatraz: The True Crime Classic: Based on the Book by J. Campbell Bruce
    Summary and Analysis of Escape from Alcatraz: The True Crime Classic: Based on the Book by J. Campbell Bruce
    Ebook46 pages30 minutes

    Summary and Analysis of Escape from Alcatraz: The True Crime Classic: Based on the Book by J. Campbell Bruce

    By Worth Books

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    About this ebook

    So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Escape from Alcatraz tells you what you need to know—before or after you read J. Campbell Bruce’s book.

    Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader.
     
    This short summary and analysis of Escape from Alcatraz by J. Campbell Bruce includes:
    • Historical context
    • Chapter-by-chapter summaries
    • Important quotes
    • Fascinating trivia
    • Glossary of terms
    • Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work
     
    About Escape from Alcatraz by J. Campbell Bruce:
     
    A true crime classic, Escape from Alcatraz recounts the history of the infamous prison on Alcatraz Island and the many men who risked their lives trying to escape it.
     
    Bruce’s book brings to life the grim, gruesome conditions of life in lockup on Alcatraz, and the prisoners who lived there—from notorious gangster Al “Scarface” Capone to robber Frank Lee Morris, the architect of Alcatraz’s most audacious escape. More than a tale of prison break, Escape from Alcatraz is a scathing indictment of a penal system that strives for dehumanization, rather than rehabilitation, of its prisoners.
     
    The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateFeb 21, 2017
    ISBN9781504044202
    Summary and Analysis of Escape from Alcatraz: The True Crime Classic: Based on the Book by J. Campbell Bruce
    Author

    Worth Books

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      Book preview

      Summary and Analysis of Escape from Alcatraz - Worth Books

      Contents

      Context

      Overview

      Summary

      Timeline

      Cast of Characters

      Direct Quotes and Analysis

      Trivia

      What’s That Word?

      About J. Campbell Bruce

      For Your Information

      Bibliography

      Copyright

      Context

      The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was still in operation when San Francisco–based journalist J. Campbell Bruce wrote Escape from Alcatraz, a chronicle of escape attempts over the lifetime of the prison that focuses especially on one notorious episode in June of 1962. The possibly successful escape of inmates Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin, so vividly recreated by the author, was a sensational story in the media and cast serious doubts on the effectiveness of Alcatraz’s security. By the time the book was published in 1963, the infamous maximum-security federal prison was no longer in operation, closing just two months before the book hit shelves.

      Escape from Alcatraz is an intriguing account of the inescapable prison, examining everything from its history as a military fortress to its punishing and inhumane conditions. It is perhaps the definitive critique of Alcatraz’s cruel, outmoded, and ineffective practices and inadequate security.

      The story of Frank Morris’s escape was famously made into the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz, starring Clint Eastwood.

      Overview

      Escape from Alcatraz is more than a series of fascinating vignettes about men who dared try to escape the country’s most notorious prison, which was widely touted as an impenetrable fortress. It is also a significant indictment of a penal system in which incarceration is purely punitive, rather than rehabilitative. The concept behind the methods at Alcatraz was that the super-maximum-security prison was a place for incorrigible criminals who did not belong in the outside world—and never would—and so were unworthy of any effort to guide them on a path to redemption.

      Journalist J. Campbell Bruce paints a picture of a place where men were robbed of their dignity. Many were stripped naked upon intake, not allowed to speak, and thrown into solitary confinement. At every turn, the inmates were punished for small infractions and deprived of basic quality-of-life amenities—sometimes they were even refused medical care.

      As Bruce tells it, court petitions from Alcatraz prisoners often never left The Rock. The men were isolated from the outside world, without access to newspapers or radios. In the early days, they were even forbidden to speak to one another. And they lived

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