First published in 1961, writing Chronicles of San Quentin was first suggested to Kenneth Lamott during a spell as a teacher at that California prison in the 1950’s. The book not only chronicles the history and highlights of one of America’s most famous penitentiaries, but it also reflects the changes in prisons in the U.S. over the last 100 years. Calmly informing us that there were over 4,000 murders in California between 1849-1855, Lamott quickly justifies the terrible need the state had for prisons other than lax, badly run county and city jails. But San Quentin itself, which started as a floating prison hulk, was little better. Here are its famous prisoners, riots and escapes, its floggings and brutalities, its executions too. With the coming of the “New Era” penology in the 1890’s, the change to more humane and rational treatment of prisoners is shown. The Clinton Duffy era is dealt with at great length—its shortcomings are shown along with its humane virtues—and prison life including the Chessman execution, is portrayed with sympathy and understanding. A highly readable book.

The San Quentin Chronicles is a raw, hard look at prison life as a white peckerwood and the countless days in the walls of San Quentin. It talks about heroin addiction and the price one pays behind barsfrom losing a wife to a disease to losing a daughter after getting clean. It tells how a hateful man can come back from all that bitterness and hatefulness and build a normal life, saving others like him. Its a story that will leave the readers spellbound and wanting more.

San Quentin State Prison, California’s oldest prison and the nation’s largest, is notorious for once holding America’s most dangerous prisoners. But in 2008, the Bastille-by-the-Bay became a beacon for rehabilitation through the prisoner-run newspaper the San Quentin News. Prison Truth tells the story of how prisoners, many serving life terms, transformed the prison climate from what Johnny Cash called a living hell to an environment that fostered positive change in inmates’ lives. Award-winning journalist William J. Drummond takes us behind bars, introducing us to Arnulfo García, the visionary prisoner who led the revival of the newspaper. Drummond describes how the San Quentin News, after a twenty-year shutdown, was recalled to life under an enlightened warden and the small group of local retired newspaper veterans serving as advisers, which Drummond joined in 2012. Sharing how officials cautiously and often unwittingly allowed the newspaper to tell the stories of the incarcerated, Prison Truth illustrates the power of prison media to humanize the experiences of people inside penitentiary walls and to forge alliances with social justice networks seeking reform.

If Bill Dallas didn’t have it all, he had most of it. A diploma from a prestigious university, a lucrative career as a top California real estate entrepreneur, and more than enough money to fund a life filled with sports cars, penthouses, and beautiful women. And then it all fell apart. Convicted of grand theft embezzlement, the former golden boy found himself in one of the nation’s most infamous institutions—San Quentin, home of “the worst of the worst.” He thought it was the end of everything. But the real story was about to begin. Lessons from San Quentin chronicles Bill’s journey from narcissistic playboy . . . to suicidal inmate . . . to spiritual apprentice. Along the way, it introduces us to his unlikely mentors—San Quentin’s “Lifers,” who guided Bill to an unexpected relationship with God. Through a vivid and transparent recounting of stories from his prison experience, Bill shares 12 life principles he had to learn the hard way—and that can help you triumph over even the most difficult circumstances.

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.