Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Qty:1
  • List Price: $16.95
  • Save: $5.35 (32%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
Only 4 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Pierrepoint: A Family of ... has been added to your Cart
Want it tomorrow, April 6? Order within and choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or
+ $3.99 shipping
Used: Good | Details
Sold by greener_books_london
Condition: Used: Good
Comment: **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence!

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 2 images

Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen Paperback – July 7, 2008

by
Steve Fielding (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Steve Fielding Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Steve Fielding (Author)
3 out of 5 stars 8 customer reviews
See all 4 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$5.03
— —
Hardcover
"Please retry"
$32.50
$32.50 $1.47
Paperback
"Please retry"
$11.60
$11.60 $0.98
Audible, Unabridged
"Please retry"
$0.00
Free with your Audible trial
Best Books of the Month
See the Best Books of the Month
Want to know our Editors' picks for the best books of the month? Browse Best Books of the Month, featuring our favorite new books in more than a dozen categories.
$11.60 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Only 4 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

  • Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen
  • +
  • Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
Total price: $20.09
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman
    Clive Francis
    4.7 out of 5 stars 36
    DVD
    $8.49 Prime
  2. The Executioner's Bible: The Story of Every British Hangman of the Twentieth Century
    Steve Fielding
    4.0 out of 5 stars 2
    Paperback
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

  • Paperback: 319 pages
  • Publisher: John Blake (July 7, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 184454611X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1844546114
  • Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,426,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsI have actually read it--imagine that!
By Golden Spur on January 18, 2007
Format: 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.
Comment 11 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
1.0 out of 5 starsWant my money back
By cf otto on December 31, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I'm someone who buys a lot of books and almost never regret a purchase. This is one of those rare instances that I have. All the book is is a list of those executed by the three Pierrepoint men...nothing about their feelings or the psychic cost (if any) that their job entailed... maybe this book works for someone who just wants to read a paragraph or less on many, many different crimes...but even these are not told in any kind of compelling style. A waste.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsPierrepoint A Family of Executioners
By Mark Ray on September 12, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Pierrepoint A Family of Executioners
by Steve Fielding
This non-fiction work details the lives and activities of the three British hangmen of the Pierrepoint Dynasty.
Henry was the first and raised hanging to a very fast, painless, and dignified craft. He fulfilled a childhood dream in late 1901 when he assisted James Billington at the execution of a French Anarchist. Performing his role competently he was placed on the List of British executioners. He officiated in his own right for the first time in early 1902 after the death of James Billington, He then worked with Billington's sons on several assignments and another dynasty of death dealers, He was kept busy over the years as both assistant and chief but also started uo his own carrier's business. One Billington brother died and the other retired so Harry persuaded his elder brother Thomas to apply for the vacant post.and joined several other new assistants.
By 1910 Harry was showing signs of drunkenness and erratic conduct and in July of that year, with a total of over 100 'clients he was struck off the List. Tom soon replaced him as a chief at a string of hangings.
In 1931 Harry's son Albert wrote to the Home Office requesting he be made assistant to Uncle Harry, he was added to the List in 1932 and worked first as assistant then as Number 1 in Britain, Ireland, and Post-War Germany. His score on retirement in the 1950's was well over 300 including Nazi war criminals. He was not however the last Britiah hangman being succeeded by two more.
The book give the grisly details of the capital process as well as accounts of the crimes for which many clients of the three brothers suffered death.
Not a book for the squeamish but an excellent account of a punishment which, thank heaven, is now no more in civilised parts of our world.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
2.0 out of 5 starsDisappointing
By C. J. Thompson on May 17, 2011
Format: 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.
Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners: The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen
Set up a giveaway

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.