Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners cover art

Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners

The Story of Britain's Infamous Hangmen

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Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners

By: Steve Fielding
Narrated by: Norman Gilligan
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About this listen

Between them, the three men in the fearsome Pierrepoint dynasty executed over 800 people during a career spanning more than half a century. Henry, his brother Thomas, and his son Albert, dispatched some of the most infamous criminals of the 20th century, and in the process earned a public notoriety that followed them throughout their eventful lives.For years, the three men were faced with the task - prestigious to some, horrific to many others - of being the last point of contact for the guilty and condemned. The Pierrepoints executed criminals the nation over before travelling to many countries including Egypt and postwar Germany, where they hanged Nazi war criminals, and gained a reputation as the world's most deadly practitioners of the art of hanging."Pierrepoint: A Family of Executioners" recounts the intriguing stories of the three men and the effect that their macabre occupation had on their personal lives. This definitive guide is filled with shocking inside tales from the official records and diaries kept by the Pierrepoint family. With revealing insights into the intense rivalry between fellow executioners, new light is shed on the menacing world of years gone by.

©2008 John Blake Publishing (P)2013 Prospero Media Europe Great Britain Social Sciences True Crime Crime England

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All stars
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I cannot imagine what it must be like to have done this job. However, someone had to do it. What comes across is the family’s compassion and total professionalism. An utterly fascinating read.

Fascinating!

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I was really disappointed as I thought this would be biographical in the sense of getting to know more about the family and understanding their motives and experiences. it is in fact just a list of who they executed, with very scant contextual information in between. I would only recommend this book if you like listening to lists - I got several chapters in hoping it would get better but it didn't.

Not a biography

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After reading a book about Albert Pierrepoint and having seen the film.. I thought this would be an interesting choice.. the subject matter is very interesting but is massively let down by how it’s presented and narrated. It’s almost like one of those annoying videos on YouTube that has auto speech but says word by word rather than as in sentence.. so losing any meaning/emotion or impact. Strangely.. every now and again.. the narration picks up.. but never lasts and drops back into an almost computer generated voice that makes it hard to lose yourself in the book.

Painful narration.

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loved the book, very interesting but this audio book has a terrible wooden and robotic narration

Great book, soulless narration like a robot

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Although the narrator is a bit wooden the book overall was very interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes British crime and punishment.

Very interesting book

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Although the bulk of this biography could be seen as a simple list of names and dates, it's the back stories and comments that engage the listener.
It shows a man who viewed the application of capital punishment as simply a job of work that had to be done.
Well worth the time to listen and it shines a light onto the secretive world of capital punishment.

Fascinating yet chilling

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This book details the life and times of one family . The pierrepoint family - Three of whom www employed by the British state as executioners between 1901 - 1956

Steve Fielding's book is an interesting work detailing how one family became so closely tied to capital punishment in Britain in the first half of the 20th century. The book follows three of the Pierrepoint family, Henry, Thomas and Albert all of whom held the title of Chief Executioner at different times during the last century.

the book has been well researched detailing as it does. the application process and training required to become a hangman and make it onto the approved list. in addition. many of the cases are described that lead to the criminals appointment with the noose. interestingly it also talks about the many other people who were involved in judicial executions during the rein of the pierrepoint family. it could also be said that this book charts the decline in popularity of capital punishment the growing strength of the abolishonist movement in the UK especially after some high-profile cases many of whom had an appointment with executioner pierrepoint.

Although this book is about the pierrepoint family or the supporting cast of colleagues and criminals that makes this book so enjoyable

It's a Family affair

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If you like listening to lists and lists and lists of dates and times then this is the audio book for you.

Boring

If you like listening to lists and lists and lists of dates and times then this is the audio book for you.

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I knew about the Pierrepoint family through the true crime books I read but the other hangmen I knew nothing about. The book sometimes reads like a list but that’s a small quibble. The book goes into the training needed to be a hangman plus t some of those hung and where they were hung. All in all worth the £1.99 I spent on it.

Really interesting

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Really enjoyed this book, very interesting insight into an unbelievable job and a time that most of us now would not remember. The book is well written and interesting but the narrative is strange at times. It's still ok to listen to but the narrator seems to be trying too hard to enunciate every single word. When he just reads normally it's much better.

Great book with lots of details of such a sinister job

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