Inmate 1577

Fact vs. Fiction: Walton MacNally’s Alcatraz escapes

The escape of John and Clarence Anglin and Frank Morris was a real event, and was the most daring, careful, and impressively planned prison escape in United States history. The actual timeline and events were more fantastic than portrayed in Inmate 1577; the breakdown of penitentiary rules and executive discipline was undeniably shocking, and each successive blunder played an increasingly important role in the success of the escape. Ironically, if any one of the lapses had been corrected, the attempt would have been foiled. But these failures-from administrative shortsightedness and odd decisions among the Bureau of Prisons budget misers to the blunders made at the local level, resulted in one of the most fascinating, and nearly mythical, stories in US history. Please continue reading at inmate.alanjacobson.com.