The Executioner Always Chops Twice: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold

By Geoffrey Abbott

Book Overview

From the strange to the gruesome, from the weird to the completely unbelievable, The Executioner Always Chops Twice is popular history at its best: witty, lively, and wonderfully bizarre.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312325630
• ISBN13: 9780312325633
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Interesting but not "Ghastly"

"The Executioner Always Chops Twice" is an interesting collection of anecdotes, but as a previous reviewer states they are not "ghastly blunders." Often the mishaps or issues are some ironic coincidence or a slight blunder. However, a view that all execution is a ghastly practice to begin with would make any accidents ghastly as well. As a book, it is light simple reading. A series of short stories, often no longer than...

Ghastly Blunders

This was a terrific book! It was educational as well as very amusing in a very dark sense. I've seen the author on the History Channel and found him to be both interesting and well versed on his subject.

Michelle's review

This book was really interesting and informative. I had no idea all that went on.

Gory, But Gripping

Mr Abbott initially gives us an overview of some of the more grisly ways to meet an end, including dismemberment and deep-frying in oil. However, the presentation is detailed without being nauseating, which is quite a trick. Still, it's certainly enough to make one cringe. The anecdotes are referenced enough to allow follow up research, without being overdone. This is an entertaining read, with a certain amount of black...

Interesting Read--An Entertaining Look At A Grisly Subject

I started reading this book expecting to find yet another collection of stories containing a kernel of historical truth and a mound of anecdotal inaccuracies. Too often the latter are added simply to tintillize the reader without bothering to check further into whether or not what is reported is the truth. I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mr. Abbott not only knows his historical facts but is able to present...