Torture and the Law of Proof: Europe and England in the Ancien Régime

by John H. Langbein

In Torture and the Law of Proof John H. Langbein explores the world of the thumbscrew and the rack, engines of torture authorized for investigating crime in European legal systems from medieval times until well into the eighteenth century. Drawing on juristic literature and legal records, Langbein's book, first published in 1977, remains the definitive account of how European legal systems became dependent on the use of torture in their routine criminal procedures, and how they eventually worked themselves free of it.

The book has recently taken on an eerie relevance as a consequence of controversial American and British interrogation practices in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In a new introduction, Langbein contrasts the "new" law of torture with the older European law and offers some pointed lessons about the difficulty of reconciling coercion with accurate investigation. Embellished with fascinating illustrations of torture devices taken from an eighteenth-century criminal code, this crisply written account will engage all those interested in torture's remarkable grip on European legal history.

Genres: History, European History, Law, Medieval History

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1977

Reviews

[Annabelle Hurst]

Yes this was for class, but it was nice!

[Craig Monson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This forty-year-old monograph, reprinted comparatively recently, has become topical, thanks to recent US political debates (which perhaps explain why it was reprinted). It offers a concise discussion of "enhanced interrogation," its uses, and legal importance in the period before 1800, one that is readable and comprehensible without a JDD degree. The illustrations offer a contemporary window onto the practices, much less lurid than what turns up on Google Images.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Amazon Review -

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1NQ6BAP...

[William Guerrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly fascinating study of the history of the law of proof and particularly the role of torture. Surprising and enlightening, scholarly but readable. One of the most interesting books I've read in a long time.

[aditti · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this for class and was pleasantly surprised as to how interesting it was