- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Sutton Publishing Ltd; New edition edition (1 Oct 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0750940247
- ISBN-13: 978-0750940245
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 288,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Tyburn Fields is the best known site of execution in London, but London may be aptly named the executioner's city, so many were the places where executions could and did occur. "London - The Executioner's City" reveals the capital as a place where the bodies of criminals defined the boundaries of the city and heads on poles greeted patrons on London Bridge. The ubiquity of crime and punishment was taken for granted by countless generations of the capital's inhabitants, though it seems to have done little to stem the tide of criminality that has always threatened to engulf the city. The book is a powerful evocation of the dark side of London's history, where the great and not so good, the poor and helpless, the cruel and the idealistic crowd together to be punished in public. A King and more than one Queen, heretics, archbishops, pirates, poisoners, plotters, murderers and a cook executed for selling putrid fish met death by hanging, beheading, burning or boiling in London, and on most occasions the crowd roared its approval. David Brandon and Alan Brooke's book is a vivid picture of capital punishment in a capital that seems to have thrived on executions.
About the Author
David Brandon is a historian. He runs a variety of courses and lectures on topics such as 'Absolute Rotters and Total Cads - Villains in British History'; and 'You Are What You Eat - Food and Eating Habits 1550-2000'. He is the author of Stand and Deliver! (Sutton, 2001). Alan Brooke is a lecturer at Peterborough College and collaborated with David Brandon on their highly successful Tyburn - London's Fatal Tree (Sutton, 2004).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you are interested in the history of London,or the history of public executions in the United Kingdom then you have to read this book.This is an excellent book covering the subject of public executions in London. We have hanging,beheading,burning to death and not to forget the guilty party being hung,drawn and quarted.The idea of public executions was to deter anybody else from commiting a crime. It didn't work, instead it turned into a fair. The public houses rented out rooms,with an unrestricted view,and made a fortune.The pick pockets made a fortune as did the prostitutes. The saying "Hats Off" came into being as the folk at the rear called at these at the front to remove their hats so that the people at the back could see. All this is explained in this excellent book. A great insight into life in London not so long ago.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Adnittedly, I raced through this book and - true - it is filled with gruesome and fascinatingly morbid facts, which is what anyone buying this book presumably would want. However, something in it left me wanting. There were parts where it was simply listing case after case, paragraph upon paragraph,a little bit too breathlessly; such-and-such-a-person was convicted of stealing and was hanged at Tyburn in 17-- and so on and so forth. I felt that more substance was needed, more context, more analysis; more description of the ritual (what exactly does being "dragged on a hurdle" entail? How exactly were prisoners prepared? When reading, I had so many questions and it was just one case after another. A little simplistic and unsophisticated I felt compared to some of the excellent histories we have seen over the last few years on various other subjects. There is a lot of competition now in the "popular history" segment of publishing, and this seemed just a little too - well - basic. Is there simply a lack of documentary evidence on this subject? This was my conclusion. But, as I said, I raced through it which at least says something. But I expected more.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found this a most interesting read, and can heartly recommend it
for those (people like myself)who have an affection for the macabre!
It is a facinating record of executions in London city and it's surroundings
From the 12th century to the 20th.
And it is well that it all has stopped!!! Where would we else be!
for those (people like myself)who have an affection for the macabre!
It is a facinating record of executions in London city and it's surroundings
From the 12th century to the 20th.
And it is well that it all has stopped!!! Where would we else be!
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