18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Read--An Entertaining Look At A Grisly Subject, April 11, 2005
This review is from: The Executioner Always Chops Twice: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold (Hardcover)
I started reading this book expecting to find yet another collection of stories containing a kernel of historical truth and a mound of anecdotal inaccuracies. Too often the latter are added simply to tintillize the reader without bothering to check further into whether or not what is reported is the truth.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mr. Abbott not only knows his historical facts but is able to present them in such a way that the reader does not want to put the book down. He does not spare us grisly details, yet does not overemphasize the gore. The stories of decapitations and hangings gone horribly wrong help us to understand why executions provided a unique form of "entertainment" for the myriad crowds who gathered around to watch the show. It also makes one glad that we are supposedly more humane today, although, as the book points out, even death by lethal injection does not insure the process will go swiftly and without any problems.
One aspect of the book is the manner in which it helps one to understand just what it was like to be an executioner. The job often was passed down from father to son, and there were reputations to be maintained. Other then for the occasional rogue, executioners were by and large men who tried to dispatch their victims as quickly and painlessly as possible. Too often rowdy crowds who hurled insults and even eggs and such at these men who were, after all, just doing their job, sometimes would result in a nervous executioner. And nervous executioners were prone to making mistakes, misjudgments and sometimes would have to literally run for their own lives if the job did not go well or if the sympathies of the mob were with the condemned. It was the first time I have read something from the point of view of the frightening looking man with the black mask over his head. Certainly not a popular profession!
I highly recommend this book for entertainment as well as knowledge of a subject few have endeavored to write about. I gave it a four simply because I found Mr. Abbot's habit of adding little stories after each chapter a bit distracting and out of place. Otherwise, if you have any interest in executions and believe in the motto "what can go wrong, will go wrong", even on the scaffold, treat yourself to this book!
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gory, But Gripping, February 8, 2006
This review is from: The Executioner Always Chops Twice: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold (Hardcover)
Mr Abbott initially gives us an overview of some of the more grisly ways to meet an end, including dismemberment and deep-frying in oil. However, the presentation is detailed without being nauseating, which is quite a trick. Still, it's certainly enough to make one cringe.
The anecdotes are referenced enough to allow follow up research, without being overdone. This is an entertaining read, with a certain amount of black humor mixed in of necessity. It covers errors in execution, in reprieve, mobs and crowds, horrific mistakes that caused gory ends, and the people who went to their death with dignity, humor, or kicking and screaming. In this way, it gives a measure of insight into the condemned mind, and that of the executioner and crowd. Highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A remarkable collection of anecdotes about executions, April 22, 2010
This review is from: The Executioner Always Chops Twice: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold (Hardcover)
Geoffrey Abbot's The Executioner Always Chops Twice: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold is a remarkable collection of anecdotes about executions. The subtitle is somewhat misleading though, as while many of the accounts are of executions where things went awry - usually in very unfortunate and gory ways - there are a number of other accounts involving strange turns, bizarre coincidences, genuine displays of wit in the face of death, and in a few cases, miraculous escapes.
The book's descriptions give you a feel for what the executions were like for all involved: the condemned, the executioner, and the witnesses. And it quickly becomes clear that the hangings, beheadings and other executions portrayed in movies and television bear little resemblance to the real thing. In particular, it becomes clear that while the crowds that flocked to see executions back when they were done in public wanted to see the condemned die, a bungled execution where the condemned's suffering was prolonged could turn the crowd against the executioner, sometimes violently as happened in the 1685 beheading of the Duke of Monmouth:
"The executioner first struck an agitated blow, inflicting a small cut, and Monmouth staggered to his feet and looked at him in silent reproach. Then he resumed his place and the executioner struck again and again. Still the head remained on the block, while his whole body writhed in agony. As the horrified fury of the crowd increased, the headsman threw down the axe, crying 'I cannot do it. My heart fails me.' 'Take up the axe, man!' roared the Sheriff, while the crowd cried 'Fling him [the executioner] over the rails!' So he took it up and hacked away, but the job had to be finished with a knife. A strong guard protected him as he went off, else he would have been torn to pieces."
A common problem with many hangings and beheadings was due to the executioner being drunk, which usually resulted in the job being done badly though sometimes it lent a black comedic turn to events, as in this instance:
"As reported in the Derby Mercury of 1723: 'Last month Will Summers and John Tipping were executed for housebreaking. At the gallows the hangman was intoxicated with strong liquor and, believing there were three for execution, attempted to put one of the ropes round the parson's neck, and was with much difficulty prevented by the gaoler from doing so.'"
And for sheer pluck in the face of imminent demise, one has to admire this Scotsman's bit of wit:
"The choice of the tree on which they were to be hanged was traditionally left to the condemned felon, and Scotsman Jock Donald accordingly selected a small sapling. When the sheriff pointed out that it was much too small, Donald replied 'Och, but I'm in no hurry; I'll just wait till it grows!'"
Abbot's style, whether citing original sources or providing his own re-telling, is highly readable, and with the accounts being fairly short, the book is ideal for reading done in short intervals, like when riding on the subway or bathroom reading. Entertaining as well as educational. Highly recommended.
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