Making it in Hell is the subject of this revealing collection of Afro-American worksongs. The inmates sing about prison--the guards, length of sentence, sickness, death, guns--and about the world outside, to pace their work and to make a miserable life bearable. Jackson has made it possible for many more people to get a glimpse of a magnificent musical tradition. It is good to know that the need for such songs is ending, but it is also good to know that Jackson has documented them so well. The book contains some excellent introductory material, photographs, a bibliography, a glossary, a discography, and an index. It contributes to our knowledge of a little known part of American life, and the reader cannot help but be impressed by the creative and inventive men responsible for these songs. The importance of prison worksongs and their relationship to Blues cannot be understated. Both have their roots in Africa, both flourished in the plantation fields of the South, both are based on the call-and-response closely associated with blues, and both act, or have acted, as a form of release and relief for the singer and singers alike [Publisher description].