The History of Torture and Execution

by Jean Kellaway

Book Overview

Throughout history, cultures around the world have found justice for the most extreme crimes by condemning the guilty to death. Retribution has been served by many methods, from beheading, garroting,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1585741450
• ISBN13: 9781585741458
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.1" x 12.0"

Customer Reviews

A very informative read

For anyone who is interested in the dark history of our world, this is a very informative book to have in your collection. This is not just a history of torture and execution, but punishment and anything that has to do with ways to die. I have to say that as humans, this volume shows that, if anything, we are trying to perfect death and killing.

A must for fans of corporal punishment

One of the best in-print works on the history of torture and basic human nastiness. The focus with this book has been on the visual, and there is at least one picture on every page. The authors are a little short on the how-to info, but anybody with the time and the inclination can figure out the details pretty easily.I also found it interesting that the authors spend the last 52 pages of this work---over a quarter of its 192 pages---focused on the dilemas of torture and execution in modern society. While entirely worthy of philosophical discussion, contemporary cruelty pales in comparison to that of previous societies, and as such is less interesting.Visually, the only book currently available that can compete is Michael Kerrigan's The Instruments of Torture. Since Kerrigan's book is also stronger on the verbal side of things, I'd recommend that as a starting point for those with an interest in the subject. Which isn't to say you shouldn't get this book (4 stars, baby), just that there is a better work out there that you should get first.For those in search of more detailed verbal accounts of torture techniques, I highly recommend Daniel Mannix's exemplary work, The History of Torture. Or, if you can find a copy, Fuad Ramses' masterwork Ancient Weird Religious Rituals, which goes into great detail about Old World cruelties such as the Blood Feast.