Geoffrey Abbott Execution: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts

Execution: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts, the Spanish Donkey, and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death

Geoffrey Abbott

St. Martin's, May 2006, $23.95, 288pp.

ISBN: 0312352220

Surprisingly considering the topic of historical references to torture and execution techniques, this tome is a enthralling well written look at how it was applied in western society over the centuries. The book is arranged in alphabetical order with the sizes of each entry varying based on available information and to a degree frequency of usage. The fascination is typically with the smaller sized less known entries. Though more information is valuable on the "popular" techniques such as Madame Guillotine, lethal injection, or hanging, the methods that most people have never heard of like being sewn inside an animal's stomach, the Spanish Donkey or Flayed alive, etc., which are relatively one or two paragraphs are the ones that hook the audience. Though the Guantomino crowd might insist this book is barbaric, history buffs will appreciate this deep look at the darker side of governments and societies.

Harriet Klausner