PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive history of the infamous
1971 Attica Prison uprising, the state’s violent response, and the
victim’s decades-long quest for justice. • Thompson served as the
Historical Consultant on the Academy Award-nominated documentary
feature ATTICA
“Gripping …
deals with racial conflict, mass incarceration, police brutality and
dissembling politicians … Makes us understand why this one group of
prisoners [rebelled], and how many others shared the cost.” —The
New York Times
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)