Alcatraz

A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years

By: Michael Esslinger

Narrated by: Eric Medler

Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Alcatraz - A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years is a comprehensive reference that breaks away from traditional tourist-style books. This audiobook is the result of years of intensive research. Historian Michael Esslinger thoroughly details the prominent events, inmates, and life inside the most infamous prison in American history. His research includes hundreds of hours examining actual Alcatraz inmate files (including rare original documents from Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and over a hundred others), exploring the prison grounds from the rooftop to the waterfront to help retrace events and escape routes, and conducting interviews with various former inmates and guards. His study has resulted in detailed accounts of both the 1946 and 1962 escape attempts. Hear detailed narratives of Alcatraz's most notable inmates, who included Robert Stroud (Birdman of Alcatraz), Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Frank Morris, the Anglin Brothers, Doc Barker, Joe Cretzer, Bernard Coy, Miran Thompson, Sam Shockley, and many-many others.

©2012 Michael Esslinger (P)2014 Michael Esslinger

Interesting listen

Very interesting listen. Good historical perspective and very fun to listen too. Happy I got it.

After visiting, I had to learn more!

I loved that I could picture some of the surroundings and feel the ‘feels’. Informative and interesting!

The Rock

This is an interesting look inside the now-shuttered federal prison. Surprisingly, many of the prison's wardens were enlightened individuals who endeavoured to rehabilitate the convicts sentenced to incarceration within its damp walls. Author Michael Esslinger makes frequent reference to Escape from Alcatraz, the Clint Eastwood movie that leaves us wondering if the three escapees survived the final leg of their journey, and also delves into the stories of such celebrated inmates as Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz.

Medler's narration is okay, except for some jaw-dropping mispronunciations, the most spectacular of which was "pillroy"; now that I've heard it repeated three or four times, context strongly suggests that the word was "pillory".

The Rock

This is an excellent book on Alcatraz, very in depth on so many levels, you can see the prison in your head and for me especially because my Grandfather Was a Guard On The Rock in The 50's and my family lived in the guard housing there & I was told stories about life there first hand and it matches the book...

The Definitive History of Alcatraz

"Alcatraz" by Michael Esslinger is meticulously researched and well written, this title definitely meets the criteria of "a definitive history." Before it became the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in 1934, a place without hope for more than 1,500 inmates for 29 years, it was originally a lighthouse before becoming a military fortification and prison. The author address the mystery and mythology surrounding "The Rock."

Alcatraz was used as a maximum security prison to house some of the most notorious criminals of the era, "Scareface" Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Doc Barker, serial bank robber Roy Gardner and Floyd Hamilton were among first public enemies to be transferred to Alcatraz. Esslinger outlines the daily routines and procedures the inmates endured, and the consequences for not following the rules at Alcatraz.

Among the many interesting facts covered in the book, there were 5 recorded suicides on Alcatraz, 8 inmates were murdered, and 15 died of natural causes while incarcerated. Capone tried to arrange to have special privileges as he had enjoyed at the Atlanta Penitentiary, but was denied. Thanks to Hollywood, many have the wrong perceptions of Henri Young and "The Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert Stroud, but Esslinger separates the facts from fiction.

Esslinger examines the 14 documented escape attempts, including the often debated escape by Frank Morrison and The Anglin brothers on June 11, 1962. The first escape attempt in April 1936 has been depicted by sources as a suicide, and with each escape attempt, the author offers a fair portrayal based on reports and eye witness accounts. In the second attempt, two inmates disappeared and were never seen or heard from again. Could they have made it to safety?

Other interesting escape attempts featured Joseph Cretzer of the prolific Cretzer-Kyle Gang, a group of thieves that successfully robbed an astonishing 80 bankers. Cretzer became the 4th most sought after fugitive by the FBI. Cretzer would ultimately die in the bloody "Battle of Alcatraz" in 1946. Another member of Cretzer's gang, Fred Hunter, also attempted to escape in 1943, along with Floyd Hamilton from Bonnie and Clyde's Barrow Gang.

This book makes a great companion to Esslingler's "Escaping Alcatraz," which reveals the latest evidence uncovered in the famed 1962 escape from Alcatraz. "Alcatraz" and "Escaping Alcatraz" contain many must see photographs and illustrations, so I recommend both audiobooks, and physical books.