Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen [Hardcover]

Steve Fielding (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2006

For 55 years, generations of the Pierrepoint family served as fearsome hangmen in England. The dynasty began in 1901 with Henry Pierrepoint, who was followed into the gruesome profession by his brother Thomas, and in time, his eldest son Albert. Between them, they carried out an amazing 900 executions. This book recounts the lives and tales of the Pierrepoint family, their reasons for taking up the profession, and the inside details of the execution cases and the deeds themselves. Insight is shed on the feuds and intense rivalry between fellow hangmen, as well as the notorious cases that kept the family firmly in the spotlight. With extracts from diaries and comments on the family's representation in the media, this book provides a fascinating look at a profession that is long gone, but certainly not forgotten.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven Fielding is the author of several historical crime titles such as The Hangman's Record and The Murder Casebook Series. He has worked as the Historical Consultant on the Discovery Channel series The Executioners and has contributed to several magazines such as The Criminologist.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: John Blake (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844541924
• ISBN-13: 978-1844541928
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,323,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have actually read it--imagine that!, January 18, 2007

By 

Jonmark Pierce (Forest Grove OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen (Hardcover)

Unlike those learned gentlemen who practice the judging of a book by its cover, I have read this work. It is a fascinating and compassionate account of a family dedicated to reshaping execution from torture to a death as quick and painless as possible. A second goal was to carry out the sentence with as little trauma to the body as possible, to spare the family yet another indignity.
Unlike recent inept and intenionally cruel Iraqi hangings done at the direction of the US government, the Pierrepoint family practiced and rehearsed the final moments so that only a few seconds elapsed between the executioner's entering the chamber and the drop. Pierrepoint also desribes his awakening, and his eventual joining of the British movement to outlaw the barbaric practice of capital punishment.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, May 17, 2011

By 

C. J. Thompson "Arctic John" (Pond Inlet, Nunavut Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen (Hardcover)

I have read a number of books about British executioners including Diary of a Hangman by John Ellis, and The Hangman's Tale: Memoirs of a Public Executioner by Syd Dernley, and I have to say that this book by Mr Fielding was not nearly as interesting as those two. The actual biographical information about the three Pierrepoints, Henry, Thomas and Albert is rather sketchy and most of the book consists of page after page of brief accounts of murders and then a paragrpaho or so detailing the execution of the perpetrators. A few of the murders are interesting accounts of famous cases, but the bulk are sordid and mundane and the accounts of the executions, for the most part, seem to differ only in the weight of the victim and the length of the drop. It is a pity that the author didn't focus on a smaller number of cases and provide a bit more interesting detail for each. As it was, the book quite quickly became repetitious and tedious. I finished it, but I doubt I will read it again.

2 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Exploitative rubbish, June 10, 2006

By 

Rick (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen (Hardcover)

The cover of this book shows a noose totally unlike that used by Pierrepoint or any other British executioner - one cannot help wondering if the rest of the book is as full of such glaring errors. I shall not be wasting my money.