EXECUTION A History of Capital Punishment in Britain

Softcover. Judicial hanging is regarded by many as being the quintessentially British execution. However, many other methods of capital punishment have been used in this country, ranging from burning, beheading and shooting to crushing and boiling to death. This book explores these types of execution in detail. It may be a surprise to learn that a means of mechanical decapitation, the Halifax Gibbet, was being used in England 500yrs before the guillotine was invented. Boiling to death was a prescribed means of execution in this country during the Tudor period. From the public death by starvation to those gibbeted alive, to the burning of women for petit treason, this book examines some of the most gruesome passages of British history. This carefully researched, well-illustrated and enthralling text will appeal to those interested in the history of British executions. Illus. + Bibliog. 159pp. trade size softcover. As New with no creasing to covers.