From a federal inmate with two decades of continuous confinement comes a controversial expose of the shocking details of life in American prisons

“Life in a women’s prison is full of surprises,” writes Cristina Rathbone in her landmark account of life at MCI-Framingham. And so it is. After two intense court battles with prison officials, Rathbone gained unprecedented access to the otherwise invisible women of the oldest running women’s prison in America. The picture that emerges is both astounding and enraging. Women reveal the agonies of separation from family, and the prevalence of depression, and of sexual predation, and institutional malaise behind bars. But they also share their more personal hopes and concerns. There is horror in prison for sure, but Rathbone insists there is also humor and romance and downright bloody-mindedness. Getting beyond the political to the personal, A World Apart is both a triumph of empathy and a searing indictment of a system that has overlooked the plight of women in prison for far too long. At the center of the book is Denise, a mother serving five years for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. Denise’s son is nine and obsessed with Beanie Babies when she first arrives in prison. He is fourteen and in prison himself by the time she is finally released. As Denise struggles to reconcile life in prison with the realities of her son’s excessive freedom on the outside, we meet women like Julie, who gets through her time by distracting herself with flirtatious, often salacious relationships with male correctional officers; Louise, who keeps herself going by selling makeup and personalized food packages on the prison black market; Chris, whose mental illness leads her to kill herself in prison; and Susan, who, after thirteen years of intermittent incarceration, has come to think of MCI-Framingham as home. Fearlessly truthful and revelatory, A World Apart is a major work of investigative journalism and social justice.

Many people think prisons are all the same-rows of cells filled with violent men who officials rule with an iron fist. Yet, life behind bars varies in incredible ways. In some facilities, prison officials govern with care and attention to prisoners' needs. In others, officials have remarkably little influence on the everyday life of prisoners, sometimes not even providing necessities like food and clean water. Why does prison social order around the world look so remarkably different? In The Puzzle of Prison Order, David Skarbek develops a theory of why prisons and prison life vary so much. He finds that how they're governed-sometimes by the state, and sometimes by the prisoners-matters the most. He investigates life in a wide array of prisons-in Brazil, Bolivia, Norway, a prisoner of war camp, England and Wales, women's prisons in California, and a gay and transgender housing unit in the Los Angeles County Jail-to understand the hierarchy of life on the inside. Drawing on economics and a vast empirical literature on legal systems, Skarbek offers a framework to not only understand why life on the inside varies in such fascinating and novel ways, but also how social order evolves and takes root behind bars.

A cross-country journey of a young man making it in the service industry. Wild tales of fun, sex and illicit drug use. Life Behind Bars gives an inside look behind the bar scene. Follow me on this thrilling ride in the night club industry. Always remember: When life hands you lemons... Garnish a drink "

The author brings you a chilling tale that walks you through our nations murder capital of the world, Englewood, Chicago. The Englewood community is notoriously known for being the most dangerous neighborhood in the state of Illinois, which has held the murder rate for decades. On the south side of Chicago, Murda-Rich, Ant, Mitchell, Tashara, Shantel, Tharay, and Latavia are all faced with day-to-day life in the community where people are murdered every day. As Murda-Rich and KillA link up, they form a crew called The Team, where they struggle to keep themselves alive while trying to avoid the cops and make money through illegal activities. After seeing so many of their family and friends being shot and murdered, they go out for vengeance. The chills-up-the-spine murders and sexual encounters youll witness will make you feel like youre right there while its all going down. Sex, power, murder, and nonstop action will keep you glued.