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Executioner Pierrepoint
Kindle Edition
Published April 17, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 4, 2021
Fascinating book! There are a lot of typo mistakes it is far from the cryptic crossword puzzle as some reviewers are making out. I was concerned it may prove a ghoulish read but far from it, it was factual and dispassionately written. Short and to the point would be accurate. I would love to know if it was ghost written. Albert Pierrepoint was not educated to a high level but if he wrote this he was an intelligent fellow and it speaks well of the schooling he received. He comes across as a man of integrity. His personal views on capital punishment are fascinating. The narrative outside of the executions is informative of a poorer and simpler society.
I would recommend this book.
I would recommend this book.
August 3, 2023
Pierrepoint is an intriguing man, and someone who is guaranteed to generate opinion. It is therefore important to have his life and work discussed in his own words.
Beginning with his childhood and ending with his resignation as public executioner and final thoughts on capital punishment, he provides a thought-provoking account of his life as an executioner, his experiences and interactions with condemned men and women, and his own philosophical approach to his work.
Whilst we may believe an executioner to be occupied by blood-lust and possess soulless attitude towards humanity, Pierrepoint represents a different character. He is a man driven by a belief that he has been called to service - not to make decisions, but to ensure that decisions made are 'executed' with skill and humanity. What comes across is a man who's job was more than that of taking life - it was a service to both the state and to those whom the state determined must die.
Although his account of childhood did come across as somewhat slow and meandering, this autobiography does not outstay its welcome, and perhaps invites more questions than answers. Pierrepoint skillfully maintains a certain professional secrecy, whilst offering fascinating and sometimes emotional stories from his less-than-ordinary life.
Beginning with his childhood and ending with his resignation as public executioner and final thoughts on capital punishment, he provides a thought-provoking account of his life as an executioner, his experiences and interactions with condemned men and women, and his own philosophical approach to his work.
Whilst we may believe an executioner to be occupied by blood-lust and possess soulless attitude towards humanity, Pierrepoint represents a different character. He is a man driven by a belief that he has been called to service - not to make decisions, but to ensure that decisions made are 'executed' with skill and humanity. What comes across is a man who's job was more than that of taking life - it was a service to both the state and to those whom the state determined must die.
Although his account of childhood did come across as somewhat slow and meandering, this autobiography does not outstay its welcome, and perhaps invites more questions than answers. Pierrepoint skillfully maintains a certain professional secrecy, whilst offering fascinating and sometimes emotional stories from his less-than-ordinary life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2026
My father bought this book when it came out in 1974 and I have read it at least three times. It is essential reading for anyone in the UK who would like to see the death penalty brought back, and essential reading for anyone in the US who considers the gas chamber or the electric chair humane and efficient forms of capital punishment.
Pierrepoint came from a family of executioners with both his father and his uncle in the role. Albert felt drawn to it like a vocation, a sacred duty, which he performed with incredible diligence. It sounds macabre, but if you have to be executed, you'd want him to do the deed.
It was of particular interest to me that the timescale from Pierrepoint entering the 'condemned cell' to death was between 12 and 20 seconds.
Over the course of half a century, he escorted hundreds of prisoners to the long drop in England, Scotland, Ireland, Europe, and America. He executed British gunmen, murderers, German war criminals, gangsters, even men he knew who visited his pub. He executed women, including Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged. People remember her for her glamour, but Albert hanged many other British women who were not remembered, and felt sad about it.
Albert's attention to duty improved execution techniques in other countries, where the hangings were barbaric. The long drop and Albert's exact measurements and observations meant he had a 100% success rate of instantaneous death, something that cannot be said for any other method of execution, including shooting.
It is his afterword that hits the hardest.
Pierrepoint came from a family of executioners with both his father and his uncle in the role. Albert felt drawn to it like a vocation, a sacred duty, which he performed with incredible diligence. It sounds macabre, but if you have to be executed, you'd want him to do the deed.
It was of particular interest to me that the timescale from Pierrepoint entering the 'condemned cell' to death was between 12 and 20 seconds.
Over the course of half a century, he escorted hundreds of prisoners to the long drop in England, Scotland, Ireland, Europe, and America. He executed British gunmen, murderers, German war criminals, gangsters, even men he knew who visited his pub. He executed women, including Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged. People remember her for her glamour, but Albert hanged many other British women who were not remembered, and felt sad about it.
Albert's attention to duty improved execution techniques in other countries, where the hangings were barbaric. The long drop and Albert's exact measurements and observations meant he had a 100% success rate of instantaneous death, something that cannot be said for any other method of execution, including shooting.
It is his afterword that hits the hardest.
July 20, 2020
Lot of typo and spelling mistakes in the book. Looks like it has not been thru a proper" print editing" before being put out on Kindle. The story and the issues described are interesting enough and warrants a read. Copy wise it is a two star, but subject and story pulls it up to three stars. Interestingly "the" is consistently written "die" in my copy. Die boat, die house, die noose and so forth
January 26, 2021
Interesting historical record
Overall interesting factual record of the events of an official executioner during the last century of capital punishment in Britain. At some points the machine like nature of the job done hundreds of times repeats itself over and over throughout the read, but in the end the book reads as an important historical document of the 20th century
Overall interesting factual record of the events of an official executioner during the last century of capital punishment in Britain. At some points the machine like nature of the job done hundreds of times repeats itself over and over throughout the read, but in the end the book reads as an important historical document of the 20th century
June 25, 2020
Skim read
Unable to read this book properly on my Kindle as there were too many mistakes. Instead of "the" it was replaced by the word "die" ,also there were numerous other mistakes making the reading nigh on impossible.
Unable to read this book properly on my Kindle as there were too many mistakes. Instead of "the" it was replaced by the word "die" ,also there were numerous other mistakes making the reading nigh on impossible.
January 17, 2021
Fascinating insight into the life of Britain’s most famous executioner.Lots of typos in the kindle edition though.
March 9, 2021
Very interesting book about a man who wanted to become Britain's No.1 Executioner. He had relatives who'd done it before him.
June 1, 2021
An interesting insight into the life of an executioner
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews