Geoffrey Abbott schöpfte aus seiner langjährigen Tätigkeit als Yeoman Warder im Tower of London, um ein bedeutendes Werk zu schaffen, das historische Erzählungen und faszinierende Themen erforscht. Seine produktive Arbeit, darunter neunzehn Bücher und Beiträge zur Encyclopaedia Britannica, unterstreicht sein Engagement, Wissen aufzudecken und zu teilen. Abbotts Schreiben bietet den Lesern eine einzigartige Perspektive, die praktische Erfahrung mit wissenschaftlicher Tiefe verbindet. Seine unverwechselbare Stimme lädt zur Erkundung des reichen Wandteppichs der Geschichte und der beständigen Mysterien ein, die die Fantasie beflügeln.
Geoffrey Abbott examines the life and practice of William Calcraft, the hangman with the longest career and shortest rope. As with other books by the author, he combines a wealth of research with his own black sense of humour, giving us an eminently readable biography of this 19th-century hangman.
Execution is a gruesomely fascinating account of methods of judicial Execution from around the world and through the ages, and includes such hair-raising categories as death by cannibalism, being sewn into an animal's belly and a thousand cuts. In his own darkly humorous style, Geoffrey Abbott describes the instruments used and their effectiveness, and reveals the macabre origins of familiar phrases such as 'gone west' or 'drawn a blank', as well as the jargon of the underworld. From the preparation of the victim to the disposal of the body, Execution answers all the questions you are ever likely to ask, and some you would never want to imagine.