Devil’s Island became infamous for its inhumane conditions, to the extent that it lent its name to a 1939 film starring Boris Karloff, as well as inspiring the novel “Papillon,” which was ...

Alcatraz Island, covering just 22 acres, started out not as a prison but a military fort. In 1846, John C. Frémont, the military governor of California, bought the island in the name of the U.S ...