The letters are all presented in their original unedited form...disturbing but somehow dignified in their authenticity, representing their lives suspended in slow motion while serving time on the Rock and other prisons. They are confessionals of earnestness and probe their introspective thoughts. Sometimes deep, and sometimes they are almost too overwhelmingly honest in their descriptive accounts. Many represent their torn and textured histories in crime, and the intricately layered stories of life at Alcatraz...

Letters from Alcatraz is an epic exploration of a culture once hidden by a secret curtain and walls of stone. This book is much more than a mere exercise in myth busting. It stands as an exploration of true life on Alcatraz. The depth of feeling in its story, its setting, its cast and sheer inimitability, these are their lives in prose and the stories of the forgotten...

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Michael Esslinger’s newest release features a collection of original letters from Alcatraz inmates both on and off Alcatraz. Their letters capture the true essence of life in prison and sometimes painful moments that add up to a richly textured story. It is a finer example of history from one of America's most historical treasures.

The collection features original letters from Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud, Roy Garder and numerous others, many never before published...

“There is so much suffering here... so much agony.”

- Roy Gardner