It is a little over forty years since the gallows was last used in Great Britain, and the secrets behind the men who pulled the lever and dropped the condemned to their deaths are to this day shrouded in mystery. "The Executioner's Bible" tells the story of the working-class men who carried out this gruesome profession until its abolition in the late 1960s. The art of dispensing instant death at the end of a hangman's rope was an exact science, and the men who undertook these duties received special training at an ...
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It is a little over forty years since the gallows was last used in Great Britain, and the secrets behind the men who pulled the lever and dropped the condemned to their deaths are to this day shrouded in mystery. "The Executioner's Bible" tells the story of the working-class men who carried out this gruesome profession until its abolition in the late 1960s. The art of dispensing instant death at the end of a hangman's rope was an exact science, and the men who undertook these duties received special training at an executioner's training school. In their day and age many of these characters assumed the profile of infamous celebrities in their own right, their reputations often rivalling the notorious criminals they were charged with despatching. Despite often being unassuming and professionally quiet, men like Albert Pierrepoint, William Billington and many other Chief and Assistant Executioners made a name for themselves in a world hungry for salacious and gruesome news. This is the story of these men - the truth about how Britain hired and fired its hangmen - and their stock in trade: the hanging of convicted criminals. Beginning at the turn of the last century with the infamous Billington family, whose dynasty ended in tragedy in the execution chamber; through to the bungling hangmen sacked for incompetence; drunken executioners dismissed for brawling; one hangman driven to suicide and another who 'got out just in time', to the last men to pull the lever at the height of the swinging sixties - the secrets of over six controversial decades of capital punishment are finally revealed. They were the last of their kind: the hangmen of the 20th Century. And this is their fascinating, sometimes repugnant, always enthralling story.
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Add this copy of The Executioner's Bible: the Story of Every British to cart. $9.09, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by John Blake.
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Add this copy of The Executioner's Bible: the Story of Every British to cart. $10.18, good condition, Sold by A Book Corner rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Beaverton, OR, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by John Blake.
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Hardback with dust jacket. Dust jacket is in good condition. Cover edges and corners in good shape. Spine is tight. Pages are clean, no markings, notes or stains. Ships from Friends bookstore to benefit Beaverton (Oregon) library.
Add this copy of The Executioner's Bible: the Story of Every British to cart. $15.00, very good condition, Sold by Row by Row Bookshop rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Sugar Grove, NC, UNITED STATES, published 2007 by John Blake.
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Very Good in Near Fine jacket. Hardcover. A Very Good copy in black hard covers lettered in silver, in an edge-rubbed Near Fine dust jacket. Light tanning at the outer edges of the text block, sound binding, clean within. (Not ex-library. )
Add this copy of The Executioner's Bible: the Story of Every British to cart. $35.20, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by John Blake.
Add this copy of The Executioner's Bible: the Story of Every British to cart. $130.92, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by John Blake.
