The History of Torture (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A fascinating, often-gruesome, account of the use of torture throughout history, this work is meticulously researched, and enhanced by 110 etchings, photos, and paintings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st ed edition (May 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312184255
• ISBN-13: 978-0312184254
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #484,290 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compact survey, July 12, 2000

By	TheIrrationalMan (Basildon, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

An extensive overview of torture, containing much photographic and illustrative detail. The sections range from torture in ancient Greece and Rome, the Far East, the Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, instruments of torture (such as the infamous Spanish "strappado") torture in the twentieth century, the campaign against torture (spearheaded by the likes of Voltaire and Edmund Burke) and psychological torture -- "the torture of the mind" -- i.e., brainwashing and the like.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars General Overview, April 24, 2002

By	John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is not some how to book designed for the S & M fan or a third world dictator learning the ropes, but an interesting look at the use of torture throughout history. It covers the use of torture from the ancient Greece civilization through the Spanish Inquisition right into the UK, all the while showing that at the time these methods of "punishment" were socially acceptable forms of punishment. The authors even look at mental torture and how it is used in societies today.

This book does not give the reader a detailed, analytical account of why societies over the years have resorted to torture or why man can perform such cruelty on his fellow man. That review would probably take a number of volumes to cover. The book just provides what people have done in the past in regards to torture / punishment, which was almost always state sponsored or directed. The book is designed as an overview and the reader looking for deep discussions on any one topic will be disappointed. Overall it provides the reader a good overview of the topic. If you are interested in crime and punishment this will be an interesting book for you.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Innes has captured the essence of man's need to torture., February 25, 1999

By	John Maley (Tucson, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

Mr. Innes has produced a worthy book. His understand and exposition of the methods and the reasons for torture is excellent. He has proved his assertion that torture results from the emotion of fear and he has shown that torture is a tool of "average" people. That makes torture even more frightening because we, the readers, come to understand that torture doesn't have to be done by the stange or abnormal individual.