San Quentin: The Evolution of a Californian State Prison (West Coast Studies,) [Hardcover]

Bonnie L. Petry (Editor), Michael Burgess (Editor)

Book Description

Series: West Coast Studies, | Publication Date: August 10, 2005

The coming of statehood to California in 1850 forced the authorities to face one immediately pressing issue: what to do with the many convicts who were pouring forth from the local county courtrooms in the wake of the great Gold Rush of 1848-49. Lawlessness was everywhere rampant, and something had to be done immediately. The answer was found in establishing the first state prison at Quentin Point in Marin County, soon to be called San Quentin. Librarians Bonnie Petry and Michael Burgess have here gathered together several key documents dealing with the earliest years of the prison, including James Harold Wilkins' seminal work, "The Evolution of a State Prison," together with a list of early convict names, a bibliography of "San Quentiniana" (publications by the convicts themselves) by Herman K. Spector, and a new annotated bibliography of nonfiction resources about the prison compiled by Ms. Petry. Complete with Introduction and Index.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Borgo Press; annotated edition edition (August 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893703362
• ISBN-13: 978-0893703363
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,968,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Reginald (who also writes as R. Reginald, Michael Burgess, and Boden Clarke), was born in Japan in the Year of the Rat, and lived in Turkey as a youth. He started writing as a child, and penned his first book during his senior year at college. He's since churned out more than 12 million words of professional fiction and nonfiction, including more than 120 published books and 13,000 short pieces. He's also edited over 1,500 books for half a dozen publishing lines. He currently serves as Editor of the Borgo Press Imprint of Wildside Press. You can find him at www.millefleurs.tv.