This book tells the history of American corrections over the last 45 years as seen through the career of John D.Rees. Rees is a corrections professional who has worked in both the government and private sector, in six states, at various levels of executive and administrative positions. He tells his story of corrections through a variety of vignettes that he experienced over the past 45 years, starting from his early years at the University of Kentucky and Florida State University, to professional stints in Kentucky & Oklahoma in the 1970s. Then a return to state government in Kentucky and then on to the private company Corrections Corporation of America in the 1980s & '90s. In this new century, he returned to Kentucky as Commissioner of Corrections. Mr. Rees has followed a path through disturbances, escapes, court orders focusing on accreditation and professional management. He chronicles the tremendous changes that has taken place over the past four decades; corrections today is not perfect, far from it, but it is light-years from where it was when he began his career in 1967.