Attingendo alla sua vasta esperienza come Yeoman Warder presso la Torre di Londra, Geoffrey Abbott ha creato un'opera letteraria significativa che esplora narrazioni storiche e soggetti intriganti. La sua prolifica produzione, che include diciannove libri e contributi all'Encyclopaedia Britannica, sottolinea la sua dedizione a scoprire e condividere conoscenze. La scrittura di Abbott offre ai lettori una prospettiva unica, combinando l'esperienza diretta con la profondità accademica. La sua voce inconfondibile invita all'esplorazione del ricco arazzo della storia e dei misteri duraturi che catturano l'immaginazione.
Geoffrey Abbott examines the life and practice of William Calcraft, the hangman with the longest career and shortest rope. As with other books by the author, he combines a wealth of research with his own black sense of humour, giving us an eminently readable biography of this 19th-century hangman.
Execution is a gruesomely fascinating account of methods of judicial Execution from around the world and through the ages, and includes such hair-raising categories as death by cannibalism, being sewn into an animal's belly and a thousand cuts. In his own darkly humorous style, Geoffrey Abbott describes the instruments used and their effectiveness, and reveals the macabre origins of familiar phrases such as 'gone west' or 'drawn a blank', as well as the jargon of the underworld. From the preparation of the victim to the disposal of the body, Execution answers all the questions you are ever likely to ask, and some you would never want to imagine.
Book like new. Read only once. No marks, highlights, or tears.