In this disturbing yet elegant exposé of U.S. penitentiaries and their encircling neighborhoods, Sasha Abramsky displays how American prisons have left behind their long-held ideal of rehabilitation, often for political factors. After surveying our present state of affairs-life sentences for nonviolent offences, appalling conditions for inmates, the growth of private prisons, the treatment of juveniles-Abramsky argues our punitive guidelines are not just inhuman but deeply counterproductive. Brilliantly explored and compellingly informed, American Furies reveals the devastating effects of a culture that believes in ‘lock ’em up and dispose of the key.’