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The mechanics of execution

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I read this book after seeing the film starring Timothy Spall. My motive was to understand how someone lives with the fact that they regularly take the life of other people, albeit legally. This autobiography provides some insight into the reasons why Albert Pierrepoint took up his trade, but not so much about the effects on his mind. He begins with an account of his early life, the realisation that both his father and his Uncle Tom were executioners, his father's proud statement that one day his son would be the Official Executioner. His closeness to his Uncle Tom, after the premature death of his father, leads him further towards him fulfilling his ambition. The book is a fascinating insight into life only a generation ago. As an historical account it is quite gripping and well worth reading. This is a man who takes pride in his role and his professionalism. The book is long on detail about the mechanics of death by hanging, which is in itself well-written, but deals much less with the rights and wrongs or the impact of that process on individuals or society. For example, he makes absolutely no comment on the fact that he hanged men later proven innocent. There is however precious little detail about the way people act when facing execution. You won't find tortured soul-searching here from executioner or executed. Rather the executioner sees his role beginning and ending with the delivery of the justice of the land, in as quick and dignified way as possible. Throughout he emphasises his respect for the victim (his words) and his feeling of responsibility to make the last moments of life ones of dignity and respect. But the irony of hanging German men and women for war crimes, whose defence was that they were simply obeying orders, is never acknowledged. In the end he turns against capital punishment only because it is an ineffective deterrent. Maybe in the end the ability not to pose the deeper questions are what enabled him to do the job he did.

More history than horror

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I must have bought four copies of this as it gets borrowed and never comes back! Albert Pierrepoint was the last in a dynasty of executioners. As such he wrote a book that is a record of his early life and immediate family history that is couched in the language of the working class man who considers himself the upholder of dignity and standards. This comes across strongly in his references to his work. Albert was very much a man of his time and considered executioner to be a post which carried a great deal of both importance and the need to be dignified at all times. He pointedly refused to be swept up in the rights or wrongs of any case that ended up before him. To him a condemned prisoner was to suffer death and pay for their crime, and after the act would have wiped their slate with society. As such he would always act completely dispassionately and insist that the executed man or woman be treated with respect. This straightforward and fastidious man writes in just that style. Expect no horror, Albert tells his story in those dignified and restrained tones that set him as a 1930s man with an extraordinary sideline in life.

Absolutely Fascinating

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I'm too young to remember when the death sentence was legal in the UK, but was intrigued how a civilised society could condone such a extreme penalty. Although this book focuses primarily on the process and the author's part in it, it also provides some insight into the acceptance of the death penalty and its eventual abolition due to public pressure. Pierrepoint is a skilled recorder of his time and you are left with a strong sense of the humanity he brought to his role. The book is neither salacious or ghoulish. Whilst the author preserves the dignity of those he executed and provides only a little information of how the prisoners met their fate, you are nonetheless provided with a fascinating insight into a world that we can fortunately only imagine today.

Learning about our unmentioned history

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This book has given me much food for thought about this part of englands history a part of which is not taught in schools. After reading this I have felt more understanding relating different events which flowed through the life of Albert Pierrepoint and more understanding on how people thought about crime form the forties through to the late fifties and how opinion changes. I would reccomend this book to everyone!!

Pierrepoint the true story and his true feelings

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Now we all have a side that is inquisitive and I have a mind that is intrigued by true crime. Whilst fiction has its place surely truth is far stranger than fiction. I have been interested in the Hangmans craft from the victorian James Berry to the Pierrepoint family. This is a fine insight into the behind the scenes of the hangmans craft. The book shows that Pierrepoint not only beleived that he was doing a job that no one else wanted but a vocation that ran in his family. He was good at it and history prooved that he was. He was not happy with talking about his craft to anyone not even his wife or close friends. This give an insight into what he felt when carrying out his job and what others felt of him. He learned from his fathers memoirs and his partnership with his Uncle Tom who he assisted in many an execution. If there is one book on true crime and the hangmans craft that I would advise people to read it would be this one. It changed my view on capital punishment and will at least give us another side of the coin.