Last Words of the Executed by Robert K. Elder is a com­pi­la­tion of the final state­ments of death row inmates short­ly before their exe­cu­tion. The book, with a fore­word by Studs Terkel, also describes the crime and some of the social set­ting of each case pre­sent­ed. According to a review in The Economist, ​“The last words are remark­able for their remorse, humour, hatred, res­ig­na­tion, fear and brava­do…. America’s diverse her­itage is stamped even onto its killers’ final moments.” Sister Helen Prejean wrote, ​“This is a dan­ger­ous book. Who knows how we will emerge from the encounter?” Robert Elder has writ­ten for the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Salon and many oth­er pub­li­ca­tions. He cur­rent­ly teach­es jour­nal­ism at Northwestern University.

(R. Elder, ​“Last Words of the Executed,” University of Chicago Press, June 2010). Posted May 28, 2010. Click here for more Books on the Death Penalty.

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