There are five times as many Americans behind bars today as in 1970; California's prison system is the third largest in the world. One in three young black men is in prison, on parole, or on probation. Despite the recent declines in urban crime rates, we remain the most violent industrial society on earth.

Though our massive investment in imprisonment has not resulted in an enduring public safety, politicians, policy makers, and the media continue to insist that America's unique problem of violence is the result of a lenient society "soft" on criminals; that incarcerating an ever larger proportion of our population is a "social program that works"; and that all other approaches to crime - from prevention to rehabilitation - have failed.

Now, criminologist Elliott Currie dissects these myths in a short, hard-hitting, and accessible book sure to change the terms of the current debate. He also lays out a range of proven alternatives to mass incarceration, which, if we are wise enough to choose them, will finally reverse the tragic legacy of crime and punishment in America.