On 9 September 1971, a group of inmates in New York's Attica Penitentiary successfully overpowered a number of guards; within hours, 1,300 prisoners had taken almost forty hostages and occupied Attica's D Yard. For the inmates and those who sympathized with their plight, this was far more than a meaningless act of violence; it constituted a “rebellion” against the prison power structure, and a protest against the racism, exploitation, and brutality that was a feature of everyday life inside the penitentiary. It was the need to ameliorate these terrible conditions that dominated the prisoners’ demands. For four days, a group of hand-picked “observers” sought to negotiate a peaceful end to the disturbance. Their efforts came to nought when Governor Rockefeller ordered a crew of angry and undisciplined state troopers and corrections officers to retake the penitentiary. This heavily armed troop fired indiscriminately into the crowd of unarmed prisoners and hostages, which ended in the loss of thirty-eight lives.

The existing literature on Attica is dominated by personal accounts of those who played a part in the uprising, or the subsequent campaign to uncover the state's role in the violence. In contrast, historians have been slow to document this critical juncture in the history of America's penal system. Heather Ann Thompson's Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy is by far the most detailed study of the uprising and its aftershocks to date. In painstaking detail, Thompson recounts the environment in which inmates fought a daily battle for survival, the racism that pervaded every part of the prison, and the horrific brutality that was inflicted upon inmates during and after the retaking of the penitentiary. Thompson also places Attica within its wider political context to show how the uprising was a pivotal moment in a national debate over prisoners’ rights – as well as larger questions of race, crime, and justice. At 571 pages, this is a lengthy tome that spares no detail in describing the events of the uprising, but also manages to convey the deep personal grief that stayed with both inmates and correctional staff who were caught up in the carnage of those four days. Thompson's work is a powerful and damning critique of state and federal authorities’ disregard for the lives of prisoners and correctional staff. It is a groundbreaking resource for anyone interested in the history of America's penal system, and the ways in which Attica contributed to the ascendancy of law-and-order politics through the 1970s and 1980s.

Blood in the Water is the product of a decade's worth of research. It opens with a description of the state of New York's efforts to prevent the author accessing thousands of boxes of evidence related to the retaking of the penitentiary. As Thompson explains, it was only through two lucky breaks that she stumbled upon material that appeared to have passed under the radar of state authorities. This evidence – some of which has since disappeared without trace – included information on the identities of those who had taken part in the storming of the penitentiary. Thompson writes, “I had found a great deal of what the state knew … not the least of which was what evidence it thought it had against members of law enforcement who were never indicted” (xv). The need to acknowledge the human cost of the state's response to the Attica riot is one of the most important messages that Thompson conveys. The book is at its most powerful when the author documents the pain and trauma that continue to haunt those who were involved, and their families, as they fight for full disclosure of the evidence that is currently held by authorities. Given the State of New York's dogged determination to hide the identity of those responsible for the retaking of Attica, it seems likely that it will be many years before we know the full story of what happened. Until then, Blood in the Water will remain the most comprehensive and critical account of the Attica uprising available to both academics and the public alike.