The Criminal Alphabet An A-Z of Prison Slang

"I have spent almost 33 of the last 53 years in and out of prison, but mainly in. I was a juvenile offender back in the mid 1970s and went on to become an adult prisoner in the 1980s and beyond. My shortest prison sentence was 7 days (for criminal damage) and my longest sentence was life (for bank robbery and possession of firearms). I have 58 criminal convictions for everything from attempted theft to armed robbery and prison escape, and I was a career criminal for most of my life. What I do not know about criminal and prison slang could be written on the back of a postage stamp and still leave room for The Lord's Prayer." From ex-professional bank robber Noel Smith, this is the most authoritative dictionary of criminal slang out there—and an absorbing journey, through words, into the heart of the criminal world.

Noel Smith is a former professional bank robber.