Chronicles of a Prison Dirty War: California Prison Politics

The decades of the 1960's and 1970's were turbulent years in the history of the California Department of Corrections. During these years prisons all across California were dangerous battle fields, as inmates waged war against one another. It was during this time period groups that such as the Black Guerrilla Family, Nuestra Familia, La Eme and Aryan Brotherhood came to prominence. The transformation of American society that was occurring outside of the prison walls was also being played out in its own way behind prison walls. Prison gangs, which largely formed along racial lines battled for respect, protection of their race and for control of pieces of the lucrative underground prison economy. Author Louis Powell takes readers on a journey into the world of prison politics. His raw telling of first hand accounts of brutal battles between inmates and incidents of treachery by prison staff that helped to fuel these battles are real eye openers. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in prison politics.