Rope: A History of the Hanged

by Amanda Howard

This is the story of the hanged ... criminal and political cases, the guilty and the wrongly accused.
There are some incredible stories herein, badly conducted hangings, innocent men and women, miraculous survivals and horrific deaths. Writer Amanda Howard has uncovered a relatively unknown history, delving into case studies of individuals and entire communities, even, obsessed with hanging throughout the ages.
A History of the Hanged takes the reader on a journey throughout the history of hanging, detailing the evolution of what was once a common method of capital punishment from the development of the drop to the invention of the gallows by Tyburn Gallows, readers will be enlightened on the mechanisms of the act of hanging as well as famous executioners like Albert Pierrepoint and William Calcraft.
The book covers a multitude of hangings including mass hangings like the Salem Witch Trials and the Nuremburg Trials, botched executions like that of Eva Dugan and the hanging of innocents.
A History of the Hanged is the perfect addition for the inquisitive mind, eager to learn more about the history of crime and capital punishment throughout the development of our world.
(Amanda Howard)

Genres: True Crime

208 pages, Paperback

Published September 19, 2016

About the author

Amanda Howard is a true crime author, fiction writer and serial killer expert. Her writing experience is based on her studies in criminology and psychology. She has written ten books on a wide range of true crime cases. She has also interviewed some of the world's most heinous serial killers over two decades and has collected a vast pool of information on various types of killers, their motives and rituals.

Amanda has appeared in many critically acclaimed international documentaries regarding famous serial killers, including Jack the Ripper, The Backpacker Killer, David Birnie as well as acted as a criminal consultant on many more. She authored many journal articles on serial killers as well as been a guest on crime shows on radio, online, television and in print. Amanda has worked as a consultant for many current affairs and news programs in Australia regarding vicious crimes, juvenile murderers, serial killers and sex offenders.

Following on from her successful career as a non-fiction author, she has coupled her knowledge of serial killers to develop a series of novels following the life of a police detective who is an international expert on ritual crimes and ancient societies. Ritual: The Blood of Many , the first book in the series was released in January 2013 followed by Ritual: The Elements of Murder in November 2013. The third book, Ritual: A Thousand Cuts was released in August 2015. She has also released a series of short stories and novellas.

Amanda is also currently studying for her Masters of Arts (Writing) and has a successful YouTube channel.

Reviews

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very brief history of hanging. The mechanics of hanging covered in the book are interesting as are a number of the stories of those hanged, but most of the hangings covered are too brief to be really interesting or informative.

[Stacy Kingsley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry but this book seems to be an underdeveloped research paper. There were moments that were interesting (like the difference between the types of hanging), but each story seems like a small snippet and not the full story. I felt there could have been a lot more to the book to make it interesting. I found it annoying that each chapter was short stories that didn't really go into detail of the person's life or their crime. Also there is really no cohesion in the book as it seems to jump in the timelines and one chapter (the chapter about hangmen) was incredibly confusing. While I wasn't going to read it the chapter on animal hangings was only two pages, and the section on lynchings could have been a lot more in depth. Unfortunately, this book was a disappointment about a subject that could have been incredibly interesting.

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was full of interesting information It was more of a collection of stories and tidbits, than a comprehensive history. It was very accessible and not overly academic, and I did enjoy reading it, but it felt poorly structured and kind of directionless at points. Also, the edition I read was full of little typos.

[Deanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could someone please explain how Hanratty's DNA contaminated the rape victim's clothing and where the rapist's DNA went. Surely if contamination had occurred there would be two sets of male DNA, up til Howard announced his innocence I thought this was a good book, he must be innocent because he told his family he was.

[Liz Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fascinated by the author's interview on radio and so bought the book on that premise. The methodology of hanging a human sounds morbid but the detail was pretty interesting. The following stories from history about hangings gone wrong were also interesting at first, but got a bit tedious towards the end.