The Hangman's Tale: Memoirs of a Public Executioner

by Syd Dernley, David Newman

Hyde, H. Montgomery, Henry James At Home

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History

Paperback

Published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having found this in a Wigtown bookstore I couldn't help but buy it, who could with a title like that nevermind the subject matter. Dernley writes with an open and honest ease, with the feel of a grandfather telling tales to his family of the good ol' days, although these good ol' days involves ropes, death and criminals. Beginning with how he managed to get the job of hangman, he tells his story with an objective yet passionate tone, intent on showing that his job was a serious and professional one and not one designed to judge or prolong matters unnecessarily. For each of the hanging examples he tells of the crimes and trial(s) of the condemned but passes no judgement of his own, with one understandable exception, and runs through the events prior to, during and after each execution. This is an intriguing and enlightening book but not one for the faint of heart, or for those expecting lots of gory details as Dernley maintains the professionalism and decorum that was an integral part of his training and role as hangman.

[Kelly Grice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sid takes us back to the days of being a hangman in Britain. Starting from applying through to the training then individual cases of the criminals he helped hang. Although it’s a macabre subject there is gallows humour too. Sadly Sid is no longer with us but has left behind a wonderful and informative book of when we had capital punishment. A really great read on crime and punishment

[Lindsay Paterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating read

[Melanie Hartshorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book, good inside view of the Hangman's Trade.
If you enjoy the book the Movie Pierrepoint starring Timothy Spall is very intense and Powerful.

[Andrew Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is full of information and first-hand information of history. A history that is no longer. Well written, at times funny.

[James Wilkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating.

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago I was going through a tiny bit of a memoir phase, and somehow - I don't recall the exact chain of events that led up to this - I discovered and started reading The Hangman's Tale, an incredibly interesting and entertaining autobiography by Syd Dernley - one of England's last hangmen.

The death penalty was abolished in the UK in 1965. I will admit at this point that I am actually not opposed to the death penalty: having been deep in the annals of true crime for over a decade now, I completely believe that there are unredeemable people, who commit crimes so sadistic and brutal that the only fitting punishment is death, both as justice for the victim and to ensure that the public is never at risk. But I also accept that for most of human history, it would have been very difficult to establish guilt beyond a shadow of doubt - which I would say with the advent of DNA has become much more doable. So I get why the campaigners of the 20th century and before would have wanted the crime abolished.

Dernley, naturally, having signed up to be a hangman, expresses no qualms whatsoever about the job. He was only ever an assistant hangman, but he accompanied on occasion the legendary Albert Pierrepoint, a career executioner who meted out the death penalty to up to 600 people in a decades-long period. Dernley writes about the executions he attended with wit and feeling - 20th-century British justice, a period that saw so many advancements in forensic science, feels as vivid as yesterday when reading his words.

Dernley's career came to an ignoble end when he was quietly fired after making an inappropriate remark about a prisoner's cadaver. To his credit, he doesn't try to gloss it over - and he comes out of the whole thing much better than does his former mentor Pierrepoint, whose own memoirs appear to have been somewhat sanitised (not least because he at one point claimed the death penalty does nothing as a deterrent, which as Dernley points out is a curious conclusion to reach after conducting hundreds of executions).

Definitely one of those books you wish were longer.

[Doug Luberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life story of a 20th-Century Hangman.

A fascinating, and not just a bit surreal, journey.