Take a photo of a barcode or cover
247 reviews for:
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Heather Ann Thompson
4.52 AVERAGE
247 reviews for:
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Heather Ann Thompson
4.52 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
Whew, finally finished this book. Only took me 2 years. It's such an important book about a prison uprising and the cover up by the state of New York and the justice/mass incarceration system in general but it was just so dense and I had trouble focusing for 700-some pages. If you're interested in the topic I'd really recommend it though.
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
whew!! an incredible book, a massive and devastating historical work. highkey recommend if you (like me) know little about Attica/prison up risings in general, and/or are looking for more reasons to despise the carceral system!!
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Very good ... but maybe not great.
Among the biggest "gets" are:
1. Just how much information the state of New York, through various agencies, continues to hide, sit upon and sequester today
2. Just how much Rockefeller supported the "tough on crime" desire to forcibly retake Attica, but ... the "cover up" and other things afterward. How Rocky ever got to be that much of a darling of some liberals continues to amaze me.
3. The state of New York's continued resistance to civil damages to prisoners severely wounded in the recapture
4. The state's even bigger callousness to families of hostage guards injured or killed in the takeover.
Overall, other than a few factual errors (miscites the Agnew letter, per an Amazon commenter; calls Angela Davis a Panther, not a Communist), Thompson lays this story open, and narrates it as a good story.
Among the biggest "gets" are:
1. Just how much information the state of New York, through various agencies, continues to hide, sit upon and sequester today
2. Just how much Rockefeller supported the "tough on crime" desire to forcibly retake Attica, but ... the "cover up" and other things afterward. How Rocky ever got to be that much of a darling of some liberals continues to amaze me.
3. The state of New York's continued resistance to civil damages to prisoners severely wounded in the recapture
4. The state's even bigger callousness to families of hostage guards injured or killed in the takeover.
Overall, other than a few factual errors (miscites the Agnew letter, per an Amazon commenter; calls Angela Davis a Panther, not a Communist), Thompson lays this story open, and narrates it as a good story.
New York State has blood on its hands. Thompson’s book is meticulously researched (against all odds given the lengths the state has gone to obscure evidence) and it’s an astonishing achievement. The stories of prisoner and hostage suffering will also haunt me for a long time.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
This book will change how you look at America's prisons and it's lawmakers. This is not a light read. Tons of info from 1971 right up until 2015. What struck me the hardest is how politicians could care less about prisoner rights OR correction officers and their families througout the entire 30+ years fight for justice. How some of these men slept at night I don't know. Also, I never knew about the torture that took place at Attica. Truly shocking.