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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good first step, 23 July 2003
To put it quickly, this book is a good starting point to learn about the history of capital punishment, but by no means a finishing point.I knew a bare minimum about the history of executioners when I started reading this for research, and I definitely learned a lot. The author tells us about hangmen, headsmen, electric chairmen and guillotiners - from Europe to America, through the middle ages up to the present day. He tells us not only about the tiny details of how they approached their work, but also about individual hangmen as people, and how the position of 'executioner' was seen in society. However - inevitably, I guess - there are holes. Whilst he describes the anonymous James Berry in great detail, he provides only a sketchy outline of the infamous Richard Jacquett - the original "Jack Ketch". I learnt tonnes of interesting information, but I still have many unanswered questions. That's the reason I'm giving it 3 instead of 4 or 5 stars, because the quality of material he DOES provide is definitely 5 star. So, in short, if you're researching the history of execution, definitely buy this book - but be prepared to need other books as well.
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