History of Punishment & Torture: A Journey Through the Dark Side of Justice (Paperback)

~ Karen Farrington (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The history of punishment and torture makes for macabre and mesmerizing reading: retribution without mercy, medieval justice, hellish prisons, and ingenious methods of inflicting torment upon the body and mind. Trace a path from the days of harshest penalties to more modern methods of reforming wrongdoers. Images graphically capture the plight of prisoners forced to walk treadmills till they went insane; bodies nailed to crosses; suspects tied to ducking stools; and the courts of the Inquisition, which left no stone unturned in their efforts to exact a confession. Discussions of human sacrifice, ordeal by fire or water, the dark days of juvenile justice, the pillory, and capital punishment reveal the astonishing array of clever and cruel sentences devised by those determined to deliver the ultimate punishments.

About the Author

Karen Farrington is a former national newspaper journalist who has written several history titles including Hamlyn History of the Supernatural and Hamlyn History of Religion. She lives with her family in Devon, U.K.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hamlyn (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0600600351
• ISBN-13: 978-0600600350
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,129,938 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy coffeetable book, January 2, 2001

By	Shantell Powell "The ShanMonster" (Kitchener, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    (VINE VOICE)

This is a wonderful starting-point for research into the history of crime and punishment. It's chock-full of illustrations. Frankly, it's the illustrations you want to see when reading about a subject like this. There are photos and descriptions of torture implements, woodcuttings of torture chambers, and observers' accounts.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars broad and shallow, June 10, 2003

By	Janrae Frank "Dark Fantasy Author" (Fitchburg, ma United States) - See all my reviews

The book is both broad, covering a lot of ground, but intensely shallow. The pictures are almost worth the price of admission, but the details are seriously lacking. Reads like a Time/Life book which tantalizes but does not produce anything. I bought it as research for a novel in progress and was very dissatisfied.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful yet horrifying, October 29, 2002

By A Customer

The book is very well illustrated and done in full color throughout. It is fascinating and gory; a great reminder of how civilized we have become and how safe a world we live in now. Read it in doses because too much of it at once is apt to make you sick and disgusted with the human animal.