Soledad Brother (book)

Soledad Brother is a collection of letters written by George Jackson while he was incarcerated in Soledad State Prison and San Quentin State Prison. In addition to containing autobiographical details from Jackson's life, the letters give a harsh appraisal of the American prison system, and express strong condemnation of racism and capitalism in the United States.

When the book was published on October 1, 1970, Jackson had already served nearly ten years (seven of them in some form of lock-up or isolation) for being an accessory to armed robbery of $71 from a Los Angeles gas station. He was nationally known at the time as one of the three "Soledad Brothers"—along with Fleeta Drumgo and John Clutchette—who were awaiting trial for the January 1970 murder of Soledad corrections officer John Vincent Mills.

The book was a bestseller and brought Jackson enthusiastic attention from other prison inmates and from leftist organizers and intellectuals in the U.S. and Europe. The French writer Jean Genet supplied an introduction to the book's first edition. Soledad Brother sold more than 400,000 copies and was reissued in 1994 by Lawrence Hill Books.