Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Heather Ann Thompson
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • The definitive history of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison uprising, the state's violent response, and the victim's decades-long quest for justice. • Thompson served as the Historical Consultant on the Academy Award-nominated documentary feature ATTICA “Gripping ... deals with racial conflict, mass incarceration, police brutality and dissembling politicians ... Makes us understand why this one group of prisoners [rebelled], and how many others shared the cost.” —The New York Times On September 9, 1971, nearly 1,300 prisoners took over the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York to protest years of mistreatment. Holding guards and civilian employees hostage, the prisoners negotiated with officials for improved conditions during the four long days and nights that followed.
Award History
3 wins · 6 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bancroft PrizeMajor | 2017 | Winner | Official source |
| Pulitzer Prize in HistoryMajor | 2017 | Winner | Secondary source |
| Ridenhour Book Prize | 2017 | Winner | Secondary source |
| Cundill History PrizeMajor | 2017 | Longlist | Secondary source |
| National Book Award for NonfictionMajor | 2016 | Finalist | Secondary source |
| Los Angeles Times Book Prize for History | 2016 | Finalist | Secondary source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
02 Central places
- Attica Correctional Facility78%
Show lower-confidence suggestions
These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.
- upstate New York42%
03 Suggested argument
No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.
04 Reading orientation
35 / 100 academicSerious trade
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 55%.