Prison Chronicles

San Quentin located in Marin County on the San Francisco Bay is California’s oldest prison dating back to the gold rush, and home to the state’s only gas chamber. Here three men have tried to find their way out of the prison’s clutches. George Jackson attempts to shoot his way out by sneaking a gun in an afro wig. Stanley “Tookie” Williams, co-founder of the Crips, attempts to write his way out of prison and earns a Nobel Peace Prize Nomination. Serial escape artists Forrest Silva Tucker enlists two other inmates to make a boat and row their way out of the prison. Will they make it?

Attica, a 90-year-old maximum-security prison in upstate New York, has a legacy of violence and inmate abuse stretching back decades. From the serial killer Son of Sam who gets his throat slashed, to an Irish mobster Mad “Dog” Sullivan who is the only person to have escaped the prison successfully, and the deadliest prison riot in American history.

Leavenworth located 25-miles northwest of Kansas City–was the largest maximum-security federal prison in the United States for over a hundred years. Its imposing dome gave rise to the term “the big house”. Here are three tales of the struggle to endure life behind its giant walls. Carl Panzram, a violent inmate who attacks his foreman. Then, a murderer, Robert Stroud, who becomes famous for his work with birds. And finally, the prison’s drug trade gives rise to the most feared inmate in the country, Tommy Silverstein.

For a century, France shipped prisoners to Devil’s Island located off French Guiana so they would vanish from the public eye. It’s most famous prisoner Alfred Dreyfus is a military officer convicted of crimes he didn’t commit. Prison justice is dealt out by a guillotine nicknamed “The Merry Widow.” And a daring escape by sea through shark infested waters and dangerous currents.

Deep in the heart of the Confederacy, Andersonville is the last place a Union soldier wants to end up during the American Civil War. Only opened for 14 months it’s the deadliest American prison, becoming the final resting place for over 12,000 men. Dorence Atwater creates a secret list which later becomes instrumental in marking gravestones at the historic site. The renegade General George Stoneman attempts to liberate the horrendous prison. And a vicious prison gang known as “The Raiders” terrorizes their brothers-in-arms.

Located in the heart of London on the River Thames, the Tower of London’s reputation for torture and beheadings fuels nightmares. Originally built as a fortress by William the Conqueror in 1078 it becomes a prison in 1101. Here the Queen, Anne Boleyn faces the executioner’s blade. Convicted terrorist Guy Fawkes refuses to talk, and two young princes are betrayed by their own family.

Within the first forty years of operation of the Soviet Gulag system, at least 18 million people were imprisoned and more than one and a half million die. At its peak, the Gulag is comprised of nearly 500 prison districts with up to 30,000 individual prison camps. They stretch across the vast country–many of them in remote locations and harsh climates–like Siberia, and Central Asia. These are three of the most incredible tales of the fight for survival. First, a system designed to starve and work inmates to death. Then–a 40-day siege that comes to a terrible end and finally–a political prisoner who risks his life to expose the system to the world.