New York: Simon & Schuster, (1980) dj. Hardcover first edition - The book which Fallaci considered her most important work. Although described as a novel, this is only a slightly fictionalized attempt to immortalize the martyred poet and Greek resistance leader Alekos Panagoulis. It recounts the story of his fight for Greece's freedom - a fight he continued until his death. In 1967, Panagoulis attempted to assassinate the fascist Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos; the plan failed, and Panagoulis was captured and imprisoned almost immediately. During the next five years, the revolutionary was subjected to physical abuse as well as psychological torture in an effort to break his spirit and will. Two days after his release under a general amnesty in 1973, Panagoulis was interviewed by Fallaci, and the two became lovers within a few weeks. Within months after he was killed by political enemies in 1976, Fallaci began work on this. Translated from the Italian by William Weaver. 463 pp. ISBN: 0-671252410.

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, (1948). Hardcover first edition - Autobiography of this American activist and author. "For two years Chaplin worked in the strike committee with Mother Jones for the bloody Kanawha County, West Virginia strike of coal miners in 1912-13. These influences led him to write a number of labor oriented poems, one of which became the words for the union anthem, 'Solidarity Forever'. In 1917 Chaplin and some 100 other Wobblies were rounded up, convicted, and jailed under the Espionage Act of 1917 for conspiring to hinder the draft and encourage desertion. He wrote 'Bars And Shadows: The Prison Poems' while serving four years of a 20-year sentence. Chaplin was very disillusioned by the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the evolution of the Soviet state and international communism but he maintained his involvement with the IWW, serving in Chicago as editor of its newspaper, the Industrial Worker, from 1932 to 1936." (Wikipedia) vi, 435 pp plus 10 pp of photographs.

New York: St Martin's, (1982) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The story of Jerry Rosenberg, "a New York State convict, mobster, and jail house lawyer. who was incarcerated for 46 years, longer than any other prisoner in New York State history. Rosenberg was initially sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1962 double homicide of two New York City police officers during a robbery carried out with two other Mafia-connected gangsters, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison in June 1965, after capital punishment was abolished in New York. He went on to become the first New York State inmate to earn a law degree. Rosenberg was incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility at the time of the 1971 rebellion. In the immediate aftermath of the takeover of parts of the prison on September 9, he was one of two men elected to represent C Block on the committee of men who would coordinate action by the insurgent prisoners and take leading roles in the negotiations. Rosenberg was instrumental in articulating demands for immunity from legal and other reprisals.. . Over the three days of negotiations that followed, the issue of full amnesty proved to be a sticking point, with state officials consistently refusing to countenance the demand.[7] When the insurrection was crushed by an assault by state troopers and corrections officers, Rosenberg was shot in the knee and beaten.. . He frequently assisted other prisoners with legal issues as a jailhouse lawyer and estimated he was involved in over 200 lawsuits." (Wikipedia) This book ends with Rosenberg talking about his upcoming parole hearing - but despite his successes as a legal advocate, he never won freedom for himself. Basis for a 1986 made-for-TV movie, Doing Life, starring Tony Danza. Warmly INSCRIBED on the front endpaper and SIGNED "Steve." 277 pp,. ISBN: 0-312216173.

New York: Scribner, (2018) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Kushner's third novel (both of her first two novels were nominated for the National Book Award). It's 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women's Correctional Facility, deep in California's Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living." SIGNED on the title page. Shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the 2018 Prix MŽdicis ƒtrange. A novel about "a life gone off the rails in contemporary America. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-1476756554.

New York: Harper Collins, (2021) dj. Hardcover first edition - A book which begins with an act of shocking violence: ÒWhen I was sixteen, my sixteen-year-old cousin, Karen, had her face blown off at pointblank range by a sawed-off shotgun . . .Ó In 1981, Elle Johnson and her cousin, Karen, were both daughters of Black law enforcement officers. both very protective - but also unwilling to discuss the events behind the murder and the manhunt that followed. It was only many years later, when the author was asked by a cousin to write a statement opposing parole for the killer that she realized she needed to understand more about what happened. Michael Connelly calls this "a powerful dissertation on the legacy of violence; a telling journey to the place in the heart where forgiveness is found. Elle JohnsonÕs words are beautiful, poignant, and painful; and always deeply resonant with truth. This book has an echo that stays with you well after you have turned the last page.Ó 210 pp. ISBN: 978-0063011328.

Minneapolis: Scarletta Press, (2007). First edition - An account of the redemption of a man whom many would have given up on. "Early on, Taylor somberly informs his readers that 'most men do not survive four decades of incarceration,'. . . An unflinching examination of his crime - a bank robbery and homicide committed at age 30 - and his resulting conviction, incarceration, spiritual growth and eventual emancipation 40 years later, this tale proves emotional, forthright and inspirational. Writing with the help of his wife, the halfway-house counselor he met after his release from prison at age 70, Taylor looks back without self-pity or regret, making the casual cruelty he endures and his straightforward survival strategies all the more chilling. Smart, determined and hopeful, Taylor makes use of his prison days learning the law and helping out his fellow inmates." (Publishers Weekly) Illustrated with photographs. 312 pp.

New York: Norton, (2020). First edition - A remarkable and unusual memoir - the author, a horse trainer, answers a call to help retrain the troubled horses at an alternative prison ranch in New Mexico, a facility run entirely by the prisoners. Both horses and residents arrive at the ranch broken in one way or many: "the horses are defensive and terrified, while the residents, some battling drug and alcohol addictions, are emotionally and physically shattered. . . Gaffney peels away the layers of her own story - a solitary childhood, painful introversion, and a transformative connection with her first horse, a filly named Belle - and she, too, learns to trust people as much as she trusts horses. . . the group experiences triumphs and failures, brave recoveries and relapses, as well as betrayals and moving stories of trust and belonging." 244 pp.

New York: Scribner, (2018) dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - Kushner's third novel (both of her first two novels were nominated for the National Book Award). It's 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women's Correctional Facility, deep in California's Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living." SIGNED on the title page. Shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the 2018 Prix MŽdicis ƒtrange. A novel about "a life gone off the rails in contemporary America. 336 pp. ISBN: 978-1476756554.

New York: Macmillan, 1926. Hardcover first edition - The autobiography of a professional burglar and hobo, Jack Black, this book describes describes his days on the road and as a professional thief, convict and escaped prisoner (his mother died when he was 10, and after a few years in a convent school, he hit the road at 14, was in the dock for burglary before he was 20 and by age 25 he was expert house robber) but it is even more an indictment of the criminal justice system. While this book was influential to writers like William S. Burroughs (who mentioned it in "Junkie" and who also wrote the foreword to the 1988 trade paperback) and the Beats, it is perhaps even more relevant to us now with its discussion on how the prison system can be a force for good - the library in a Canadian prison - and also something which dehumanize prisoners - including his experiences of flogging in Canada,and being constrained by a strait jacket at Folsom. Foreword by Robert Herrick. xi, 394 pp.

New York: Kensington, (2007.) dj. Hardcover first edition - A true account of just one of the disastrous events following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in August 2005, by the Medical Director of the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office, one of the largest jails in the country. From the dustjacket: "No Ordinary Heroes recounts the drama that unfolded at the jail between August 26 and September 2, 2005. Faced with a prison compound that administrators had refused to evacuate, Dr. Inglese and his colleagues - deputies, nurses, and doctors - had a monumental disaster on their hands. Massive flooding transformed the sprawling jail complex into an island in the crippled city. Without power or running water, and with food stores dwindling, conditions at the jail deteriorated rapidly as temperatures inside soared in the blistering summer heat. Cut off from help, the medical staff struggled to care for thousands of inmates, staff, and neighborhood residents while deputies struggled to maintain order. Through it all loomed the constant menace of the prison inmates, many of them desperate to survive or possibly escape. Rioting prisoners, burning buildings, SWAT team rescues, and medical emergencies all conspired to create a storm within a storm: a trial weathered by the courage and perseverance of a dedicated few who worked to the breaking point and beyond." Illustrated with an inserted section of 47 color photographs and drawings of the floor plan. Author's note. vii, 327 pp. ISBN: 9780806528311.