Reviews
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy, by Heather Ann Thompson
scicalis's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.75
christiek's review
Too granular for me. I put it down one day and just couldn't pick it up again.
thegayngelgabriel's review
5.0
This book took me almost five months to read entirely, partially because it is a dense legal history spanning some forty years, and more importantly, it is a witness to a huge amount of past and present human suffering, to a level of abuse of power that remains hard to fathom, to many many people working relentlessly for a level of justice they know will and can only be inadequate. It's a hard book to read. It is an incredible piece of work, and I am deeply deeply grateful it exists. It is as close to the truth as most people today can access about what happened at Attica, and it sheds a light on so many related struggles, in the past and right now.
ktlee_writes's review
4.0
BLOOD IN THE WATER: THE ATTICA PRISON UPRISING OF 1971 AND ITS LEGACY is Heather Ann Thompson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the conditions that drove inmates at the Attica Correctional Facility to take over the prison, New York State’s violent reprisals, the cover-up of the brutality by state officials, and the victims’ court battles for justice.
This is a meticulously researched book that readers with an interest in incarceration policy, criminal justice reform, political corruption, and legal maneuverings will learn much from. While the graphic depictions of state brutality or the decades of court battles can be difficult to read about, the book helps show the extent of the callousness, racism, and inhumanity that permeate our government systems and the people who run them.
I found myself asking, What separates the people who showed compassion towards the men involved in the uprising from those who wanted them dead? Why did some National Guardsmen flinch at the atrocities, while many state troopers and correctional officers actively beat or kill prisoners? Why were the doctors who came afterwards to care for the wounded flabbergasted by the egregious abuse, while the regular prison doctors were unmoved? What gives someone a conscience? What makes a person see another as a fellow human being versus an animal?
Heavy questions, heavier material, important history.
This is a meticulously researched book that readers with an interest in incarceration policy, criminal justice reform, political corruption, and legal maneuverings will learn much from. While the graphic depictions of state brutality or the decades of court battles can be difficult to read about, the book helps show the extent of the callousness, racism, and inhumanity that permeate our government systems and the people who run them.
I found myself asking, What separates the people who showed compassion towards the men involved in the uprising from those who wanted them dead? Why did some National Guardsmen flinch at the atrocities, while many state troopers and correctional officers actively beat or kill prisoners? Why were the doctors who came afterwards to care for the wounded flabbergasted by the egregious abuse, while the regular prison doctors were unmoved? What gives someone a conscience? What makes a person see another as a fellow human being versus an animal?
Heavy questions, heavier material, important history.
ngilbert's review
5.0
This book is a masterpiece at laying out over 30 years of events and convoluted legal battles; even with 571 pages, the timeline was always clear. It lays out in detail the horrors that the inmates & hostages alike suffered without treading into the voyeuristic.
debwny's review
5.0
Extraordinary detail and research, well written book that is the definitive spotlight of truth on the most heinous atrocity in America. One that could only be so completely revealed 40 years after it happened due to lies, corruption, and coverups conducted by the state of NY starting with the Gov Rockefeller and on down the line. The absolute darkest hour of state police power. This is a MUST read!! Very very disturbing.
samanthadilley's review
5.0
I don’t know why it took me until the 50th anniversary of the Attica Prison Uprising to read this but I’m so glad I did. I will be thinking about this book for a while and is definitely in my top 5 favorite books of all time. I learned so much that is clearly trying to be kept from the greater public. So yourself a favor and read this book. While it looks intimidating at 700+ pages, it’s a very compelling read. I could go on forever about this book and will definitely reread in the future.