CONDEMNED. Inside the Sing Sing Death House

Hardback. From 1891 to 1963, New York's infamous Sing Sing was the site of 614 legal executions carried out by the state. More people were executed there than at any other American prison, yet Sing Sing's death house was, to a remarkable extent, one of the most closed, secret, and mythologised places in modern America. It also served as the prototype for modern prison-based capital punishment. In this book, based on released archival materials, the author goes on a disturbing and poignant tour of Sing Sing's legendary death house, and introduces the reader to those whose lives were claimed in its electric chair. The files contained mug shots of each newly arrived prisoner, most still wearing the out-to-court clothes they had on earlier that day when they learned the verdict and were sentenced to death. It is these sometimes bewildered, sometimes defiant faces that fill the pages of this book, along with the documents of their last months at Sing Sing. The reader is guided through the horrifying killing machine, following the doomed convicts from their introduction to the rules of Sing Sing, through their contact with the guards and psychiatrists, their pleas for clemency, escape attempts, resistance, and their final letters and messages before being put to death. Illus., Prisoners Legally Executed at Sing Sing Prison. 166pp. 4to. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. in f. dw.