Racehoss: Big Emma's Boy

Hell for Albert Race Sample was the Retrieve, a branch of the Texas State prison system reserved for the most incorrigible prisoners. A cotton plantation where men slaved from dawn to dusk under the cruel leadership of "Boss Band," it cracked the spirits of the weak and hardened the souls of the strong.

For "Racehoss," as Sample was called, the Retrieve was a place to witness unbearable brutality -- which he recounts in awesome detail in the pages of this stunning book. It is the classic story of the son of a troubled mother, of a young man gone bad, and of his first tentative then tremendous steps toward reclaiming his own destiny.

His ability to understand the forces that drove him to prison, and his devotion to helping others also see the light of change, earned Sample his release in 1972 and a full pardon in 1976. His story is gripping, powerful, and utterly real -- true testament to the strength of the human spirit.