One out of every hundred adults in the U.S. is in prison. This book provides a crash course in what drives mass incarceration, the human and community costs, and how to stop the numbers from going even higher. This volume collects the three comic books published by the Real Cost of Prisons Project. The stories and statistical information in each comic book is thoroughly researched and documented.

Preface /Lois Ahrens -- Introduction / Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Craig Gilmore -- Prison town -- paying the price / Kevin Pyle and Craig Gilmore -- Readers respond -- Part 1 -- Prisoners of the war on drugs / Sabrina Jones, Ellen Miller-Mack and Lois Ahrens -- Readers respond -- Part 2 -- Prisoners of a hard life -- women and their children / Susan Willmarth, Ellen Miller-Mack and Lois Ahrens.