There are better versions written

I was disappointed in this book. Ernie Lageson's dad has been dead since 1953, so I suspect that a lot of the conversations were recreated. What I really disliked was the frequent use of the "F" word throughout the book. It isn't necessary use it almost every time an inmate spoke. Also, why didn't Lageson ever say what towns and cities his parents lived in when they were in ND? Small things like that are nice to know.

Missing Chapters

I would love to give this book a 5 star rating cause it is
definitely a book you can't put down, and the story is worth
5 stars, HOWEVER...the book I ordered from Amazon.com and I believe
was shipped from internationalbooks,
was missing chapters 22 - 26. When I got to chapter 21 I was on page
222 and the next page was 255! Totally missed out on how the three
inmates were killed and what led up to how the hostages were set free
all that was missing in my book that I ordered.
So it was pretty disgusting not to have the story in full once I got
all the way to Chapter 21 and it jumped to Chapter 27. No pages were
torn out ...book looks totally intact but there are 5 chapters missing
I sure would like to find a book that has ALL the chapters in it so I
can read what I had to miss reading in the book I ordered

Excellent

I am obsessed with reading about Alcatraz - I picked up the book by Whitey Thompson somewhere - a garage sale or thrift store - for a .25 and I have been hooked ever since. This one is great. I am reading the sequel to this book right now (by the same author) about the trial. Hope it is just as good. There is also a book written by a guard ("screw") that I will be reading next.

Excellent Book

Visited The Rock this July, bought this book at the bookstore, This book was a great book made me feel like i was actully there. The auther Tells a great story. Suggest to everyone

Riveting, Interesting, and Readable

Author Ernest Lageson provides us with an account of the 1946 attempted breakout at Alcatraz prison during which time his father was a guard at the institution. He provides the reader with the details of a well-planned attempt by inmates to vacate "The Rock". The best laid plans go sour for the strangest reasons, and this plan went awry because a guard decided to keep a key to the recreation yard in his pocket because he was to reuse it shortly instead of returning it where it belonged. The inmates were unable to locate the key and their plot was foiled. The author provides us with details of the personalities of the inmates involved and their frustration when things began to go wrong. Author Lageson was a schoolboy at the time, and he expresses his agony in not knowing whether his father was alive or not. Conflict between Warden James Johnston and his associate, Edward Miller, in resolving the takeover is gone into detail with Warden Johnston appearing as confused as to what to do to rescue the guards in the cell block and quash the uprising. According to the author, Johnston had his facts wrong, also, when providing details to the press. Having just visited Alcatraz last week I wanted to read this book and was able to visualize the inside of the prison. I found this book very interesting to read. I can't imagine a reviewer who found it to be boring. I would highly recommend the book to you.