I found this book a bit annoying, he dwelt way too much on the methods we already know a lot about, and too little on the things we aren't as familiar with. I didn't find it necessary to know the history of each executioner, and what they had for breakfast. ( )

Mostly focuses on European history, particularly English, French, and German history. A lot of the articles are somewhat related (hanging, hanged drawn and quartered, hanging in chains, etc), but there's plenty of information about the death penalty through the ages in here.

The articles range from extremely indepth to very brief. A few methods only get a few paragraphs dedicated to them (cannibalism, shot by arrows) while the more common methods of execution get longer articles with stories attached. I was looking more for variety of execution methods when I started, but I got really drawn into the stories as well. The article on hanging is particularly interesting.

Not an easy or spectacular read (and definitely not for the squeamish, I have a strong stomach and some of these gave me nightmares), but interesting all the same. ( )