The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History [Library Binding]

Craig Brandon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786406860 | ISBN-13: 978-0786406869 | Publication Date: August 1999

Since its first use in 1890, the electric chair has been the means of legal execution for over 4,300 individuals in 23 states. Its use in recent years has steadily declined, and nowadays many states use the chair only as a museum display. This book provides a history of the electric chair and analyzes its features, its development, and the manner of its use. Chapters cover the early conceptual stages as a humane alternative to hanging, and the rivalry between Edison and Westinghouse that was one of the main forces in the chair's adoption as a mode of execution. Also presented are an account of the terrible first execution and a number of the subsequent gruesome employments of the chair. The text explores the changing attitudes toward the chair as state after state replaces it with lethal injection.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Opponents of capital punishment have often condemned the methods of execution as vehemently as the executions themselves. Brandon (Keene State Coll., NH) contends that, in modern times, the electric chair is the most barbaric of all the methods. Ironically, although intended as a humane alternative to hanging and supported by such illustrious names as Thomas Edison, the chair has had a ghastly history of botched or gruesome executions. One must admire Brandon's extensive research. Beginning from the first execution of William Kemmler in 1890, the author furnishes detail after detail of inside information. He personalizes not only the condemned but the executioners as well. His portrait of executioner Robert Elliott, who often killed several men in one day, is priceless. Brandon never says that he is opposed to capital punishment, leaving readers to draw their own conclusions, but he does say loud and clear that electrocution should be replaced by lethal injectionAwhich he considers a truly more humane alternative. This book is certainly not for everyone, but for crime buffs with a stomach for gruesome details, it is essential.AFrances O. Sandiford, Green Haven Correctional Facility Lib., Stormville, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A history of the first decade of the electric chair. Brandon tells an absorbing story...an excellent, readable work" --Choice

"One must admire Brandon's extensive research...essential" --Library Journal

"Highly readable, meticulously documented and absolutely fascinating history...an important contribution to the ongoing debate over capital punishment in this state and this country...recommended" --Bookmarks --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 279 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786406860
• ISBN-13: 978-0786406869
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,592,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Craig's most recent book, "The Five-Year Party," won the silver prize in the education category for Book of the Year in 2010. The Wall Street Journal compared it with Tom Wolfe's "I Am Charlotte Simmons" and it has been featured in The Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Forbes, ABC News and CNN. A former award-winning journalist and college writing teacher, he now spends all his time on books. His current projects include a profile of tropical storm Irene called "Good Night Irene," an update of his 1986 book about the Chester Gillette murder case called "The Murder That Will Never Die," "Rumrunners: The Smugglers Who Quenched America's Thirst 1920-1933" for Syracuse University Press and a history of the town of Stratham, New Hampshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a disappointment for the price., September 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History (Library Binding)

It is difficult to find a comprehensive history of the electric chair. And short of reading a copy of "Agent of Death," written by state executioner G. Elliott, much of the discussion of the technology of execution by electrocution is either too vague or too inaccurate to be of value to someone studying this bizzare and unlikely method of state killing.

Brandon's book promised to shed new light on the technological marvel-turned torture device that was and is the electric chair. Unfortunately, the book fails to deliver. There are many inaccuracies (the youngest person electrocuted in the U.S. was 14, not 17 as Brandon indignantly states; Fred Leuchter was prosecuted not because of a book he never wrote -- he wrote a report -- but because he testified in a Canadian criminal case that the Holocaust never occurred; Elliot hardly protected his execution techniques as "trade secrets" -- they're stated plainly in his book, "Agent of Death"). The book is much to "thin" (257 pages of text) for the high price of almost $40.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine documentation of the "humane" killing device, March 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History (Library Binding)

Professor Brandon's in-depth research provides a fascinating account of the economic and historical background which led to the development of the electric chair. The ever-controversial topic of capital punishment finds additional fuel in this well-documented history. I highly recommend this book to those who consider important the social and moral issues surrounding capital punishment.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story, well told, February 25, 2002

By 

Puerto Ordaz "Puerto Ordaz" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History (Library Binding)

Brandon did an excellent job of reviewing the voluminous historical documents and putting them into a fast paced story. This is not a tiring ponderous tirade against capital punishment but a rare objective history story.