Cloaked in secrecy, discussed by even the most hardened criminals as a place of terror, US Penitentiary Alcatraz is the most feared institution in the American penal system. From 1934 to 1963 more than 1500 prisoners pass through its gates, including Machine-Gun Kelly and Scarface himself, Alphonse Capone. But how did this island rock capture the public imagination? What was life really like inside?

This is a Short History of Alcatraz.

Written by Kate Simants. With thanks to Jolene Babyak, Alcatraz Historian and author of Breaking the Rock: The Great Escape from Alcatraz.

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