New York: Bantam Books, 1970. Fifth printing stated. Mass market paperback. [6], 250 pages. Cover worn, torn, taped, creased, soiled and chipped. Some page discoloration. Introduction by Jean Genet. Jean Genet (19 December 1910 – 15 April 1986) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. George Lester Jackson (September 23, 1941 – August 21, 1971) was an American author, activist, and convicted criminal. While serving a sentence for armed robbery in 1961, Jackson became involved in revolutionary activity and co-founded the Marxist–Leninist Black Guerrilla Family. In 1961, he was convicted of armed robbery (stealing $70 at gunpoint from a gas station) and sentenced to one year to life in prison. During his first years at San Quentin State Prison, Jackson became involved in revolutionary activity. He was described by prison officials as egocentric and anti-social.[5] In 1966, Jackson met and befriended W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to Marxist and Maoist ideology. The two founded the Black Guerrilla Family in 1966 based on Marxist and Maoist political thought. In speaking of his ideological transformation, Jackson remarked "I met Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Engels, and Mao when I entered prison and they redeemed me." In 1970, he was charged, along with two other Soledad Brothers, with the murder of Correctional Officer John Vincent Mills. The same year, he published Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson, a combination of autobiography and manifesto addressed to an African American audience. The book became a bestseller and earned Jackson personal fame. Jackson was killed during an attempted prison escape in 1971. More