Prison Chronicles

Alcatraz, built to hold the worst of the worst, is the last stop for repeat offenders and troublemakers from other prisons. These are three stories of desperate men willing to risk it all to escape the cold, dark cells of "the Rock."

ADX is the place for terrorists, serial killers, and anyone else who will never again see the light of day. Located in Florence, Colorado it's been dubbed the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." Here are four shocking stories from America's most high-tech lock up.

The Hanoi Hilton is perhaps the most famous American POW prison of the Vietnam War located in the city of Hanoi.

A maximum-security prison on the banks of the Hudson, just 30 miles north of New York City, it gave rise to the term "being sent up the river". "Old Sparky"--one of the first electric chairs in the world--takes over 600 lives.

Dannemora, located in the frigid Adirondack mountains, its nickname is "little Siberia." Officially called the Clinton Correctional facility--this foreboding prison is commonly known as Dannemora--named after the town where it is built.

San Quentin located in Marin County on the San Francisco Bay is California's oldest prison dating back to the gold rush, and home to the state's only gas chamber. Here three men have tried to find their way out of the prison's clutches.

Attica, a 90-year-old maximum-security prison in upstate New York, has a legacy of violence and inmate abuse stretching back decades.

Leavenworth located 25-miles northwest of Kansas City--was the largest maximum-security federal prison in the United States for over a hundred years. Its imposing dome gave rise to the term "the big house".

For a century, France shipped prisoners to Devil's Island located off French Guiana so they would vanish from the public eye. It's most famous prisoner Alfred Dreyfus is a military officer convicted of crimes he didn't commit.

Deep in the heart of the Confederacy, Andersonville is the last place a Union soldier wants to end up during the American Civil War. Only opened for 14 months it's the deadliest American prison, becoming the final resting place for over 12,000 men.

Located in the heart of London on the River Thames, the Tower of London's reputation for torture and beheadings fuels nightmares. Originally built as a fortress by William the Conqueror in 1078 it becomes a prison in 1101.

Within the first forty years of operation of the Soviet Gulag system, at least 18 million people were imprisoned and more than one and a half million die.