Curious Punishments of Bygone Days (Paperback)

from JBD1

Now utterly outdated, but still a noteworthy anecdotal and by no means particularly thoroughgoing history of crimes and punishments in the early English colonies (as well as a few cases from Britain). It's amazing to see how often this book is (still!) cited in new books and articles, without con...

from MiaCulpa

Reading a book written in the nineteenth century about punishments doled out in the sixteenth century, is an interesting experience. Basically just a list of painful (physically and mentally) punishments from the days of yore, including the Scarlet Letter, maiming of body parts and being placed i...

from PhilSyphe

When reading accounts like those recalled in this book, one can't help but feel relieved to be living in this century! To think that there was a time when a person could be whipped for lying, or put in the stocks for being drunk or swearing, seems incredible from a twenty-first-century perspectiv...

from JBD1

Now utterly outdated, but still a noteworthy anecdotal and by no means particularly thoroughgoing history of crimes and punishments in the early English colonies (as well as a few cases from Britain). It's amazing to see how often this book is (still!) cited in new books and articles, without con...