Last Train to Alcatraz: The Autobiography of Leon (Whitey) Thompson, Former Alcatraz Inmate

Most history books are written from a distance- the distance of years that allows the "historian" to put people and events into a wider scope of reference. For four years Whitey Thompson's scope of reference was a twelve acre rock in the middle of San Francisco Bay, and the stories he tells in this book are related from a distance most of us can never truly appreciate - the inside of the joint. Whitey was neither a "public enemy" in the Hollywood sense nor a punk kid new to prison life. He had spent time in other institutions and was well versed in the ways of prison life by the time he had arrived on Alcatraz. He knew who to trust, who to watch out for, and how and when to keep his mouth shut. In the language of the penitentiary, Whitey was a "solid con." Perhaps his main claim to fame is that he was among the handful of men ever released directly from Alcatraz to the streets of San Francisco. This book is Whitey's highly personal history of his early life and his years on Alcatraz.