Amazing Stories Of Female Executions

by Geoffrey Abbott

In these grisly tales from the gallows, guillotine and gas chamber the fairer sex get it in the neck. You have been warned. From the Yorkshire Witch, who was accused of murder when a potion for good health turned out to be fatal, to the woman who survived the gallows and took her empty coffin away with her, Amazing True Stories of Female Executions is brimming with macabre true stories of executed women from around the world. Interspersed with quirky last requests, and with black and white illustrations throughout, this is history at its most morbidly fascinating.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime, Historical, Feminism, Mystery

Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2003

About the author

Geoffrey Abbott served for many years as a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London. Author of nineteen books and contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica/, he has made numerous television appearances. He lives in London.

Reviews

[Ruth Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It was always a dilemma for women condemned to be the active partner in a danse macabre with the executioner in deciding just what to wear for the event. Some styles had of course been insisted on in advance by the relevant authorities: off-the-shoulder blouses were de rigeur for the guillotine, short-sleeved dresses mandatory for lethal injection, and an upswept hairstyle essential for the axe or the sword. Only minimal jewellery was permitted: if being hanged, necklaces were forbidden (other than the one provided and positioned by the hangman), as were pendant earrings, on the left ear lobe at least (the knot of the noose was always on the left); heavy bangles and sequinned frocks played havoc with the flow of the current in the electric chair, and there was little point in applying perfume prior to taking one’s place in the gas chamber. So the choice was limited."




An interesting albeit rather grim read. The author has a rather dry sense of humor that I enjoyed.

[Jennifer Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fascinating look at the executions of women throughout history, from 1000 years ago to the modern age. Women of various backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, religious creeds, races & ages have their crimes described in great detail in an encyclopedia-like format. Their crimes, which brought down their being sentenced to death, range from stealing butter to killing their husbands to plotting to kill the king & the methods by which their sentences were carried out are equally varied, from hanging to beheading to the electric chair to firing squad. I love this author for the detail with which he describes each woman's story, inserting little fun facts along the way regarding laws & social practices of the time period. His writing style includes a dry yet sadistic sense of humor that is very similar to my own & often had me chuckling out loud. For someone of my tastes this was a fun & interesting read. But if you have a weak stomach for the more macabre side of human history, just keep on scrolling; you won't be entertained so much as appalled & sickened. Me? I love this stuff & love this author. I only wish I could find more of it here in the States.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit rubbish tbh

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off really quite interesting but after a while the entries started reflecting each other with similar details and/or circumstances in each. The author has pulled together stories from a variety of sources that covers women of many backgrounds, races, religions etc. and there is a rather macabre reference section at the back that details the different methods of torture and execution used but the repetitve nature of the stories lets this book down somewhat. Even the author dry and dark humour gets a little par for the course by the end, although there were plenty of moments where he manages to get a chuckle or two despite the less than humourous nature of the subject matter.

[Harry (otherworldsthanthese) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Female Executions: Martyrs, Murderesses and Madwomen is exactly what it says on the tin - you get exactly what you're told you're going to get. However, each case is given between 0.5 to 3 pages worth of detail before moving on to the next one, so as soon as you become invested, the case is ripped away from you and is followed by one which is most likely not as interesting as the previous one, as many of the cases discussed are undoubtedly just filler for the book. Notwithstanding its flaws, I did find great enjoyment in reading about Elizabeth Brownrigg, and the entirety of Appendix 2; the section about methods of execution.

One of this book's strengths is also one of its flaws - the humour. Geoffrey Abbott clearly thinks he's hilarious, and sometimes, his wit lands successfully. Other times, it just doesn't, and it detracts from the brutality of the topics he discusses. Although, sometimes it enhances the book by making it comedically macabre.

This book is entertaining to flick through, but it is dreadful as a set of cohesive true stories. It's all over the place - sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

[Robert Mckay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geoffrey Abbott may spell his first name oddly (that is, oddly to Americans - it's not odd in the United Kingdom), but he writes well. So often when I hear someone from England speak (I assume Abbott is English; he might, of course, be from some other part of the UK) it sounds to me as though the individual, regardless of accent, is making a supreme effort to be pretentious. But in writing at least Abbott is the exact opposite. On the page he has that delightful British sense of humor that unfortunately tends to hide itself unless you're watching Monty Python's Flying Circus.

The only problem with the book is that, as with everything, too much of a good thing is indeed too much. By the end I found I'd gotten tired of yet another woman dying at the hands of the executioner. If he'd put in fewer cases, the book would've been shorter and, I think, better. But however long it is, it's fun to read, not least because Abbott has fun with his material.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells of a wide variety of executions, as well as mini-stories of the women who were on the wrong end of it.
The tales of the women include their names, date of crimes, the crime, name of victim, and outcome - that is, how they were dispatched. Each little story is quick to the point, sometimes with a little humor thrown in - such as the woman who used many drops of poison to kill, but she was killed by one drop of the blade (Har, har, har.)
The book has a moderate amount of sketches, likely called wood-cuts in their day, to illustrate some of the punishments.
It's a quick read because of the short chapters on each individual, although there are quite a few, to make it seem to go quickly.
It's an entertaining read, which sounds soulless, since it's about the death of wo many women.

[Peter McGinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Female Executions is one of those factual books that is well-researched, well-written and which , moreover, I found to be interesting, at least for the first fifty entries or so. Then the stories of the convicted killers and how they were executed began to blur together, to the extent that the details of some of them seemed to match or at least strongly resemble ones I had read two dozen plages earlier. Perhaps my error was to read it straight through. Maybe the better course would be to place a copy next to the throne in the lavatory, where a piece could be read during every visit, like an Uncle John’s bathroom compendium book.

[Krickette · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was what it states. Yes, there were many similarities, but who can be surprised?

[Ashley Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Some interesting entries, but it felt a bit too much like reading the dictionary.

[Yolande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but like most of Geoffrey Abbott's book, don't read if you don't have a strong stomach.
Some of the descriptions are vivid.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book to cite for historical research into female murderers or witches. Very interested in Margarita Zelle, who was an exotic dancer and spy known as ‘Mata Hari’.

[Emmy Lou Musgrave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for a bit more from this book. It was interesting but there was never enough to really pull me in. Each woman discussed was given, at most, a few pages of backstory and execution details. There were even a few women mentioned that only got a few sentences. I would've been more engaged if Abbott chose a handful of women to really dive into.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these grisly tales from the gallows, guillotine and gas chamber the fairer sex get it in the neck. You have been warned. From the Yorkshire Witch, who was accused of murder when a potion for good health turned out to be fatal, to the woman who survived the gallows and took her empty coffin away with her, this book is brimming with macabre true stories of executed women from around the world. Interspersed with quirky last requests, and with black and white illustrations throughout, this is history at its most morbidly fascinating.

[Ubiquitousbastard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, there wasn't a whole lot of "amazing" involved here; most of the executions went off normally and under no weird circumstances. There were a few that I hadn't heard about, which were kind of interesting to read, but for the most part there wasn't much novel information. Then there was the tone, every entry pretty much had to end on a pun. Completely unnecessary, especially with such obvious, cheesy puns. I also think that England is over-represented because the author is English, and again this book should have a subtitle that says "of European countries or former European colonies." I'm usually not a person who demands that other cultures be equally represented in history (even if there is no important events/contributions), but it would have been nice to have at least a few to see the differences. There weren't even any from Eastern Europe, which I'm sure killed women more than once.

[Mark Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compendium of anecdotes and stories mixed from the knowledge and research from this retired Beefeater. This Queens bodyguard has a great insight into the world of the macabre. In particular with this book, unlike his others, feature upon the stories of women throughout history who have come to a bitter end because of the law. Murderers, witches and robbers, throughout time, women were as evil as men, it seems. This obviously comes as a great shock to me and all of my male friends. Is this because of the sheer gall and perpetual innocence the fairer sex have whenever they are either confronted or caught out of their infidelities? Who am I to say?

What I do know is that this book is wonderfully set out, fascinating (if not a bit over dramatic) and telling about the female psyche during the heat of conjecture, passion and desperation. Very readable, a sense in this case that all must pursue.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. I was hoping for a good, interesting read, but rather than put things in a cohesive order or discuss these women, Abbott has arranged this almost as an encyclopedia, rendering it difficult to read as a cohesive book. This also means that everyone in the book runs together and he puts blurbs about totally different women after some of the entries but makes the entire thing incredibly confusing, especially considering so many of them are named "Mary". I got about halfway through and then lost all interest in attempting the rest of it. This book isn't even very useful for research because it provides no sources.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this was done very tastefully, lists a select group of culprits (in alphabetical order) yet didn't get too bogged down with details. It included a nice list at the back, books for reference and some trivia.

Marie Antoinette--front and center--but no Anne Boleyn or Mary Queen of Scotts. Oh well.

Since the stories were so summarized, I looked them up on Wikipedia and was promptly directed to Murderpedia.org. This website included contributions by Geoffrey Abbott, as well as much more well-known, modern culprits. Wonderful source of this kind of morbid, juicy information . . . .. . . . . .

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an incredibly interesting book (the kind I call a "bathroom book," where the content is presented in short chapters or, in this case, broken up every page or two). My major complaint is that there are no sources cited, so if you're hoping to use this as an entertaining way to dig into some research, you're going to have a harder time chasing the paper trail.

Still, a fun read. Spans centuries and continents, so you really get a flavor of historical execution throughout the world.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed the way this was set out, with each chapter being about a woman in alphabetical order rather than chronological; I felt like this broke the book up a bit. I thought it would have benefitted from having less chapters/women but more information.

[Naomie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I finished reading this I noticed there was another like it. I have been searching for it for years!! I finally found it here on Good Reads.
This book was quite an interesting read. I enjoyed it. 3.5 stars

[Kala Paget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, but a lot of the stories were similar and so the book was very repetitive.

[Joelle Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at crime and punishment.

[Zivile · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book contains some good and interesting biographies. But it's just a compilation from other books.

[Arjun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bookmarks in comments

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of interesting anecdotes. I got through this book in a few hours, and is a realivly light read

[Joanne Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read and very interesting.