Old Sparky : The Electric Chair and the History of the Death Penalty (Paperback)

from acgallegos91

This is an interesting book with some gory details about botched executions, but not enough to make the reader lose sleep. Anthony Galvin - a former crime writer - presents a neat little history of how the electric chair came into use as a means of "humane execution" in the United States at the t...

from LibraryCin

This book not only looks at the electric chair, but it starts off looking at hanging as a punishment. In the late 19th century, in the US, they were looking to replace hanging as the default punishment for anyone sentenced to death. The author starts by looking at hangings and why they thought it...

from ElizaJane

An engrossing read from start to finish. The book narrows down its focus quite quickly but does start broadly to illustrate how the author arrives at his premise. Starting with worldwide execution methods throughout history, Galvin quickly travels through medieval and renaissance Europe, then par...

from ElizaJane

An engrossing read from start to finish. The book narrows down its focus quite quickly but does start broadly to illustrate how the author arrives at his premise. Starting with worldwide execution methods throughout history, Galvin quickly travels through medieval and renaissance Europe, then par...