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Reflections on Hanging
Reflections on Hanging is a searing indictment of capital punishment, inspired by its author's own time in the shadow of a firing squad. During the Spanish Civil War, Arthur Koestler was held by the Franco regime as a political prisoner, and condemned to death. He was freed, but only after months of witnessing the fates of less-fortunate inmates. That experience informs every page of the book, which was first published in England in 1956, and followed in 1957 by this American edition.
As Koestler ranges across the history of capital punishment in Britain (with a focus on hanging), he looks at notable cases and rulings, and portrays politicians, judges, lawyers, scholars, clergymen, doctors, police, jailers, prisoners, and others involved in the long debate over the justness and effectiveness of the death penalty.
In Britain, Reflections on Hanging was part of a concerted, ultimately successful effort to abolish the death penalty. At that time, in the forty-eight United States, capital punishment was sanctioned in forty-two of them, with hanging still practiced in five. This edition includes a preface and afterword written especially for the 1957 American edition. The preface makes the book relevant to readers in the U.S.; the afterword overviews the modern-day history of abolitionist legislation in the British Parliament.
Reflections on Hanging is relentless, biting, and unsparing in its details of botched and unjust executions. It is a classic work of advocacy for some of society's most defenseless members, a critique of capital punishment that is still widely cited, and an enduring work that presaged such contemporary problems as the sensationalism of crime, the wrongful condemnation of the innocent and mentally ill, the callousness of penal systems, and the use of fear to control a citizenry.
As Koestler ranges across the history of capital punishment in Britain (with a focus on hanging), he looks at notable cases and rulings, and portrays politicians, judges, lawyers, scholars, clergymen, doctors, police, jailers, prisoners, and others involved in the long debate over the justness and effectiveness of the death penalty.
In Britain, Reflections on Hanging was part of a concerted, ultimately successful effort to abolish the death penalty. At that time, in the forty-eight United States, capital punishment was sanctioned in forty-two of them, with hanging still practiced in five. This edition includes a preface and afterword written especially for the 1957 American edition. The preface makes the book relevant to readers in the U.S.; the afterword overviews the modern-day history of abolitionist legislation in the British Parliament.
Reflections on Hanging is relentless, biting, and unsparing in its details of botched and unjust executions. It is a classic work of advocacy for some of society's most defenseless members, a critique of capital punishment that is still widely cited, and an enduring work that presaged such contemporary problems as the sensationalism of crime, the wrongful condemnation of the innocent and mentally ill, the callousness of penal systems, and the use of fear to control a citizenry.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
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First published January 1, 1956
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About the author
Arthur Koestler
152 books947 followers
Darkness at Noon
(1940), novel of Hungarian-born British writer Arthur Koestler, portrays his disillusionment with Communism; his nonfiction works include
The Sleepwalkers
(1959) and
The Ghost in the Machine
(1967).
Arthur Koestler CBE [*Kösztler Artúr] was a prolific writer of essays, novels and autobiographies.
He was born into a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest but, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. His early career was in journalism. In 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany but, disillusioned, he resigned from it in 1938 and in 1940 published a devastating anti-Communist novel, Darkness at Noon, which propelled him to instant international fame.
Over the next forty-three years he espoused many causes, wrote novels and biographies, and numerous essays. In 1968 he was awarded the prestigious and valuable Sonning Prize "For outstanding contribution to European culture", and in 1972 he was made a "Commander of the British Empire" (CBE).
In 1976 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and three years later with leukaemia in its terminal stages. He committed suicide in 1983 in London.
Arthur Koestler CBE [*Kösztler Artúr] was a prolific writer of essays, novels and autobiographies.
He was born into a Hungarian Jewish family in Budapest but, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria. His early career was in journalism. In 1931 he joined the Communist Party of Germany but, disillusioned, he resigned from it in 1938 and in 1940 published a devastating anti-Communist novel, Darkness at Noon, which propelled him to instant international fame.
Over the next forty-three years he espoused many causes, wrote novels and biographies, and numerous essays. In 1968 he was awarded the prestigious and valuable Sonning Prize "For outstanding contribution to European culture", and in 1972 he was made a "Commander of the British Empire" (CBE).
In 1976 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and three years later with leukaemia in its terminal stages. He committed suicide in 1983 in London.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 15, 2017
This book is a searing indictment of capital punishment (administered by hanging) in the UK and throughout the world. The writers take strong positions: referring to their position as the abolition of capital punishment, discuss open-air prisons, rehabilitation, and at some point make a strong statement on the indignity and horridness of any imprisonment.
They cover all he possible reasons people provide for supporting capital punishment (including quotes from the state and legal departments in the UK) and walk through them with eloquence and determinism.
The book has an entire section listing all the people executed between 1950 and 1961, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions, and then provide their analysis of the data, bringing attention to all the logical mistakes and misunderstanding of humanity in the execution of those people.
The last hanging took place in 1964 and was effectively gone, only three years after the book was published. It was eventually abolished legally for murder in 1965 for Great Britain and 1973 for Northern Ireland. It was fully abolished in 1998.
I gave this book 5 stars but I wish I could give it more.
They cover all he possible reasons people provide for supporting capital punishment (including quotes from the state and legal departments in the UK) and walk through them with eloquence and determinism.
The book has an entire section listing all the people executed between 1950 and 1961, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions, and then provide their analysis of the data, bringing attention to all the logical mistakes and misunderstanding of humanity in the execution of those people.
The last hanging took place in 1964 and was effectively gone, only three years after the book was published. It was eventually abolished legally for murder in 1965 for Great Britain and 1973 for Northern Ireland. It was fully abolished in 1998.
I gave this book 5 stars but I wish I could give it more.
October 5, 2010
"Abolition of the death-penalty has never made any difference to the number of murders in any country."
March 26, 2020
It was the cover that first drew me to this book. It looks like a real execution but is credited to the British Film Institute, so perhaps not. As for the text, a good read with a shocking chapter on the legal history of hanging showing an appalling level of ignorance and callousness at the very highest levels of the British judiciary from the 1800s right up to the 1960s, when the book was written. Otherwise quite dated in parts but worth it for Koestler's spark of genius.
January 3, 2022
Still a pertinent argument for the abolition of capital punishment, though written in 1956. The reasons given today for keeping the death penalty are the same as they have always been, and Koestler's refutation of those reasons rings clear and relevant in 2022.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews