Customer Reviews

The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History

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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.

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.

Brandon did an excellent job of reviewing the voluminous historical documents and putting them into a fast paced story.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.