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The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Pantheon
September 2016
On Sale: August 23, 2016
752 pages ISBN: 0375423222 EAN: 9780375423222 Kindle: B018PD2JJ8 Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction History
THE FIRST DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE INFAMOUS 1971 ATTICA
PRISON UPRISING, THE STATE’S VIOLENT RESPONSE, AND THE
VICTIMS’ DECADES-LONG QUEST FOR JUSTICE On September 9, 1971, nearly 1,300 prisoners took over the
Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York to protest
years of mistreatment. Holding guards and civilian employees
hostage, the prisoners negotiated with officials for
improved conditions during the four long days and nights
that followed. On September 13, the state abruptly sent hundreds of heavily
armed troopers and correction officers to retake the prison
by force. Their gunfire killed thirty-nine men—hostages as
well as prisoners—and severely wounded more than one hundred
others. In the ensuing hours, weeks, and months, troopers
and officers brutally retaliated against the prisoners. And,
ultimately, New York State authorities prosecuted only the
prisoners, never once bringing charges against the officials
involved in the retaking and its aftermath and neglecting to
provide support to the survivors and the families of the men
who had been killed. Drawing from more than a decade of extensive research,
historian Heather Ann Thompson sheds new light on every
aspect of the uprising and its legacy, giving voice to all
those who took part in this forty-five-year fight for
justice: prisoners, former hostages, families of the
victims, lawyers and judges, and state officials and members
of law enforcement. Blood in the Water is the searing and
indelible account of one of the most important civil rights
stories of the last century. (With black-and-white photos throughout)
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