A handbook on hanging : being a short introduction to the fine art of execution ... / by Charles Duff ; with a new introduction by Christopher Hitchens.
No increase in the number of murders after abolition -- Preface to the 1961 Edition-- Fashions in execution -- English neck-breaking the best -- Praise for hangmen -- A calm consideration of hanging -- Hanging as a fine art -- Hangman an artist -- Sheer beauty of hanging -- British hangmen poor but honest -- hangman a man of many parts -- Hangman a brave man -- Hangmen make mistakes : John Lee -- John Lee saved by rain! -- To err is human -- Open competition and examination for the post -- Charming personality of hangmen -- A uniform for hangmen -- Famous case quoted -- Conditioning for hanging -- No ill-will in hanging -- Bungled hangings -- Farcical inquests and official secrets -- Jurymen must demand evidence -- Fashions in evidence -- Is America more civilized than England? -- Broadcasting the neck-breaking -- Murders known to the police : statistics -- Anatomy of English murders -- A general picture and the dilemma -- House of Lords a sure preventive of abolition -- A history of the anti-hanging crusade -- Capital punishment abolished! -- No increase in the number of murders after abolition -- Note on the literature of hanging -- Why not hang in public? -- Make hangings more impressive -- Decline in hanging -- Increase in law : decrease in virtue -- Vested interests in hanging -- Mercy a dangerous thing -- Consult the hangman -- Dead men tell no tales -- Chance of errors reduced to a minimum -- Hanging a "ritual sacrifice" -- Hanging and ritualism -- Extraordinary case of Derek Bentley -- The writing on the wall -- Party politics and hanging -- More mistakes of hangmen -- Fun for the hangman -- Always hang women -- Romance in a butcher's shop -- A hypothetical murder -- The end of a dream -- Popularity of murder trials -- Plan to lower the income tax -- Hanged for sheer stupidity -- A book against hanging! -- Depressing modern hangman -- The great hangman interviewed -- Pride in profession -- Love versus career -- More difficult to hang one woman than two men! -- A new orientation in capital punishment -- Executioners are good Christians -- Digression on the Nazis -- Great era of execution -- Royal executioners and aristocratic hangmen -- Executioners risk their lives -- Drinking the prisoner's dope -- Imported hangmen -- Sporting instinct of the Greeks -- Hangman who hanged his brother -- On His Majesty's service -- The press and crime -- Hints for editors -- Making crime pay -- Memoirs of the hanged -- The 'hangman's record" quoted -- The condemned man -- Note on the literature of hanging -- Account of England's last public hanging -- Still more mistakes of hangmen -- All sorts make mistakes - even experts -- Hangmen not concerned with errors of courts -- Hanging in the U.S.A. -- The six who were hanged -- Death never instantaneous -- Saving "L'honneur de la belle France" -- Disgraceful plagiarism exposed -- Electrocution is torture -- A needle through the head -- The Rosenbergs -- U.S.A. : abolition and Caryl Chessman -- Wider moral of the Chessman case -- The death of Chessman -- Ugly stain on civilization -- Honors for hangmen -- Who ought to be hanged? -- George Bernard Shaw quoted -- Professor Dr. Joad, wit and philosopher -- The Great Nuremberg hangings -- Defense of a choice hangman -- The executioner who works from a desk -- Anti-hanging campaigns -- Lord Templewood on hanging -- April 1948 : House of Commons against hanging! -- House of Lords to the rescue -- Judicial psychology -- Hanging in suspense -- Post-war crimes - the cause -- U.S.S.R. - death penalty abolished! -- Soviet Decree of May 1961 -- Roman Catholics and state killing -- Note on hanging, drawing, and quartering -- Hanging etc., bulwarks of the Constitution -- England's official Church favors hanging -- England's public hangings -- The bold Fenian men of Oul' Ireland -- Account of England's last public hanging -- Appendix : A ready reckoner for hangmen. Hangman's verses for his client -- The Scienza Nuova -- A wicked calumny refuted -- Spilsbury on the drop -- Hand-in-hand with science -- Hanging, flogging, war, and sadism -- The late Mr. Berry on hanging -- Vital importance of the drop -- Mr. Marwood - pioneer of the new science -- A rough working list of drops -- Doctor's advice on hanging -- The Goodale mess explained -- Doctor who erred -- A hangman's diploma -- How hanging kills -- Note on pinioning -- Note on scaffolds -- Hangman describes hanging -- An "order to hang" -- The Holy procession -- Last scene of all -- Those last fleeting hours -- Hangman shakes hands and gets busy -- Fabulous speed of English hangings -- Scaffold unaffected by progress, revolutions, or select committees -- Britain stands by her hangmen -- The last certificate -- The new Homicide Act of 1957 -- No hangings : no increase in murders! -- The new Sexual Offenses Act -- Campaign for more hanging : 1960's -- England's defeat no always a victory -- Homosexuality in England and France -- Conclusion -- Appendix : A ready reckoner for hangmen.
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