Customer Reviews

Battle at Alcatraz: A Desperate Attempt to Escape the Rock

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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Ernie Lageson has written the very best account of The Riot Of 1946. The events unfold in a manner that holds your interest and agree with the facts as I know them to be. My Father was also a Corretional Officer On Alcatraz during The Riot and shared his experiences with me. This is a Top Flight recounting of Alcatraz Island's biggest escape attempt!!

For all readers interested in or fascinated by Alcatraz this is the book to READ. The Battle at Alcatraz literally puts the reader inside the prison walls and into the hearts and minds of the prisoners and guards. This is a true story written by the son of the officer in charge the day of the attempted breakout from Alcatraz in 1946. It reads like fiction as the six desperate convicts search for a missing key. It leaves the reader unsettled wondering if a warden's decisions could have made a difference. A must read. A Wisconsin reader

If you like history and drama, BATTLE AT ALCATRAZ will keep you up late turning pages. Ernie Lageson retells the story of the prison's bloodiest escape attempt over three days in May 1946, and he has a real insider perspective: he wrote the book from notes made by his father, one of the prison guards wounded and held hostage during the siege. It is a look at a simpler world, when San Francisco stopped for three days while its citizens climbed on rooftops and walked to the waterfront to watch the drama unfold in the Bay - a drama that could not be played out on television (1946 was a radio and newspaper world), but instead flashed on movie screens around the world. It's a drama worth remembering.

Gripping right from the start! This is a genuine first hand account of what happened behind those old walls, told by the son of an on duty prison guard. Ernie Lageson Jr. drives this battle right into your favorite easy chair. Told in such detail and realism, Ernie makes you feel as if you were one of the guards involved. I can't even keep my own copy around, everyone want's to read this piece of history. This book is gauranteed to stay in your hands until you finish it.

Ernie Lageson, is the son of one of the prison guards injured in the failed escape attempt about which this book is written. There are many versions of stories told about Alcatraz the details of which vary by accounting. Being a stickler for correct facts I appreciate the attention to accurate detail paid by the author when writing this book. He not only tells the story with precise accuracy he does so as a skilled story teller weaving a web and drawing you in. If you only read one book about this particular uprising, make sure you chose this one. You won't find an accounting more thoroughly researched nor more intelligently written.

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.

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.

This book was a terriffic read, concise and very well written. I was waiting for my plane in the O'Hare airport and had bought it for my dad in San Fransisco. I was 9 years old at the time and I read the whole book on the way home. I could not put it down. The bond that the author creates with the reader is magical. You find yourself in the cell where the hostages were kept. You hear yourself screaming at others to find the key. How the plan could break down at the last was incredible. If you enjoy history, then this book is for you. If you cannot see the historical importance and literary genius in this piece, then maybe you should blow your mind on cable television.

this book is in my view one of the most engaging books you could ever read.I say this for two reasons- first the mood of the book is such that it keeps you reading it over, secondly the account is actually written by someone who had first hand knowledge of Alcatraz.But i also liked it because of the depth........ all in all a good read for anyone[save children on account of the swearing]

A wonderful, simple, disturbing and well written book about a very significant event. Very difficult to put down.