Charles Duff’s 1928 pub­li­ca­tion A Handbook on Hanging has been re-pub­lished with updates and a new intro­duc­tion by jour­nal­ist Christopher Hitchens. The book pro­vides read­ers with a satir­ic look at the prac­tice of car­ry­ing out exe­cu­tions. Duff writes not only of hang­ing, but of elec­tro­cu­tion, decap­i­ta­tion, and gassing. He also takes a tongue-in-cheek look at issues such as botched exe­cu­tions, pub­lic response to exe­cu­tions, and deter­rence. With fac­tu­al details and notable quo­ta­tions, this book focus­es pri­mar­i­ly on British his­to­ry with the death penal­ty, but its themes are uni­ver­sal. (New York Review Books, 2001) See Resources.

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