In 1862 Johnson's Island prison, the Union's sole military prison, was born. This title tells the story of the camp from its planning stages until the end of the war. Because the facility housed only officers, several literate diary keepers were on hand; Roger Pickenpaugh draws on their accounts, along with prison records, to provide a fascinating depiction of day-to-day life.

Roger Pickenpaugh was a teacher at Shenandoah Middle School in Sarahsville, Ohio, for thirty years before retiring. His books have focused mainly on outstanding Ohio weather events and the Civil War, and in recent years he has devoted a great amount of study to the topic of Civil War prisons. Some of his works include Rescue by Rail: Troop Transfer and the Civil War in the West, 1863;Camp Chase and the Evolution of Union Prison Policy; and Captives in Gray: The Civil War Prisons of the Union, recipient of the 2010 James I. Robertson Jr. Literary Prize, sponsored by the Robert E. Lee Robert E. Lee Civil War Library and Research Center.