Part I, Alcatraz from 1934 to 1948. The federal government's war on "public enemies"--A new form of imprisonment -- Selecting the "worst of the worst" -- The program -- Organized resistance : a regime tested -- Finding a hole in the rock : the first escape attempts -- Alcatraz on trial -- The war years -- The battle of Alcatraz -- Part II, Life on the rock for resisters and public enemies. Resistance and adaptation -- Outlaws among outlaws -- Celebrity prisoners -- Part III, Alcatraz as as experiment in penal policy. Return to the free world -- Lessons from Alcatraz for supermax prisons.