Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson [Paperback]

George Jackson (Author), Jean Genet (Introduction), Jonathan Jackson Jr. (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1994

A collection of Jackson's letters from prison, Soledad Brother is an outspoken condemnation of the racism of white America and a powerful appraisal of the prison system that failed to break his spirit but eventually took his life. Jackson's letters make palpable the intense feelings of anger and rebellion that filled black men in America's prisons in the 1960s. But even removed from the social and political firestorms of the 1960s, Jackson's story still resonates for its portrait of a man taking a stand even while locked down.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Jackson gained notoriety shortly before his death in 1970 when his younger brother unsuccessfully tried to free him at gunpoint when Jackson and two others were on trial for killing a guard. Written between 1964 and 1970 while serving time in Soledad Prison for robbery, the letters reveal the brutality and racism faced by prisoners and call for unity among African Americans. This edition contains a new foreword by Jackson's nephew Jonathan. Soledad Brother remains "recommended for most libraries" (LJ 12/15/70) and is a solid title for Black History Month in February.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Lawrence Hill Books (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556522304
• ISBN-13: 978-1556522307
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,804 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #49 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Letters & Correspondence
  • #89 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Regional U.S. > West

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One day this will be recognized, January 23, 2000

By 

Lancelot "1dreamer" (Jackson, MS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (Paperback)

I first read this work nearly thirty years ago, and at the time I was so moved by the passion and pain contained within it that I could barely speak about it...it seemed almost too real, too personal to bear...especially after George Jackson was denied the romance of his life (Dr. Angela Davis) and murdered for allegedly trying to "escape" from Soledad Prison-really to nowhere, if you look at what happened.

In retrospect, I am sure that years from now this work will be studied by a different educational system...not with his communist vision (where else might he have found his political haven?), but a system which will value the perspective of even its lowest common denominator, if intelligently and thoughtfully expressed. In the meantime, I suspect this work is too strong for the average reader and student of American society. But read it for its extradinary exhibition of love. It's extraordinary recitation of pain, lonliness, and disappointment. Read it because it shows, no- takes you inside the mind of one who saw and knew and lived our system at its most brutal level.

Ultimately, Mr. Jackson reveals how one man's strength and humanity renders our stone walls (literal and figurative) powerless over the human spirit. George's passion, will, love, and commitment will one day be vindicated.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Shawshank Redemption, July 3, 2000

By 

Tajh A Eldridge - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (Paperback)

George Jackson was our modern day Barrabas. He was truly a man whose mental capacity was far more advanced than he ever realized. The tradegy of his brother Jonathan Jackson hits so close to home. This is a MUST READ among all of the current good work out there. Get it and read it with your soul...

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hard-hitting and still completely relevant, March 29, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (Paperback)

George L. Jackson's oeuvre is a honest, brutal appraisal of the amerikan prison system that victimized and eventually murdered him in 1971. As stated in the introduction by the author's nephew, Jonathan Jackson, Jr. his words are still, unfortunately, relevant today vis-a-vis Mumia Abu-Jamal, the privatization of the prison system, etc. Worthy of a careful reading along with the Angela Davis Autobiography. Truly revolutionary words that survived his death and will presage his revindication.