Alcatraz Escape Files: From the Official Records

When the 23-year-old kidnapper Theodore Cole arrived at Alcatraz in 1935, he already had two violent escape attempts on his record. Not surprisingly, within twenty-four months, he made yet another run for freedom. men locked up in maximum-security, minimum-privilege USP Alcatraz spent their time thinking about it, dreaming of it, plotting ways to achieve it. Though the odds against their schemes succeeding were high, that didn't stop some of them from trying. And when it came to way to get off the island, these men --- who had time on their hands and plenty of motivation --- came up with some remarkably daring getaway plans. During the Rock's 29-year history, the Bureau of Prisons documented fourteen official escape attempts. Driven men broke out of solitary confinement, slipped away from the dock, tunneled out of their cells, (&) used improvised tools to saw through "tool-proof" bars. Drawn from the official files of the Bureau of Prisons, these accounts show exactly how far desperate men will go to regain their independence. A more inventive gallery of escape artists would be hard to find.

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