The book is composed of essays by Rideau and Wikberg that first appeared in The Angolite, a publication written, edited, and produced by inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA. Wikberg was paroled in 1992 after serving more than 21 years for murder; Rideau remains in Angola, where he has been incarcerated since 1961 following a murder conviction. The authors provide insights rarely seen elsewhere: the almost unimaginably violent culture of prison, the loss of hope by inmates serving long sentences, and the tragic economic implications for all of society. The authors go beyond the misery and hopelessness of individual lives; they examine the larger currents and policy arguments with which society must deal. The reader is forced to recognize that the economics of punishment control Angola and all United States correctional systems, shaping the lives and experiences of inmates and beginning to shape the lives of law-abiding Americans. As more prisons are built to house more inmates serving longer sentences, there is simply less money for other things society needs. Footnotes