#VAC Gattrell

[semper-legens]

59. The Hanging Tree, by V.A.C Gattrell

Owned: No, library Page count: 619 My summary: A history of public executions in England at the time of the Bloody Code, when hanging judges sent people to the gallows at a higher rate than ever before. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Look, this is the part where I might say something like 'I'm sorry most of my special interests are morbid' if I was actually sorry at all. It's interesting, okay! And one of my morbid special interest is the history of capital punishment and executions. I know that capital punishment is still a thing that exists in many parts of the world, but I live in England where the death penalty has been abolished since the 1960s. I'm interested in it both as a historical curiosity and also as a study of human behaviour, law, and morality. Why do some people consider it reprehensible for an individual to murder another individual but think it's fine if the state kills that murderer in return? What was the point of capital punishment, and did it

I don't think this book set out to provide an argument why capital punishment is cruel and pointless, but it definitely succeeds at that regardless, at least in my eyes. We see stories of judges who condemn people to death despite them not having been given a fair trial, based on evidence that amounts to little more than 'because he looked shifty', after refusing to listen to any pleas and pardons on the condemned's behalf. There are some cases where a person was sentenced to hang despite them blatantly having done no wrong, or had their sentence commuted to transportation despite being innocent. Because this is the crux of the matter - contemporary morality believed it was better to condemn the innocent so that the guilty did not walk free. If a few people hanged for no reason, well, that was for the greater good of society. Horrific in its own right, but adding to that, the death penalty did not work as a deterrent. Crowds at a hanging were often frequented by pickpockets, and there are cases where people went to see the hanging then committed some capital crimes on the way back.

This book focuses on public executions, which were banned in the late 1800s, and provides a really interesting study of the point and efficacy of the public execution. Because while contemporary writers condemned crowds at hangings as lawless and irreverent, in some cases the onlookers used the time to show their opinion on the law and the hanging, boycotting the executions they thought injust or heckling hangmen. Meanwhile, middle-class onlookers seemed to want a guilty thrill at an execution, while outwardly claiming they weren't watching for their own curiosity. It's a long book, for sure. But it's packed full of information and case studies on the subject. I found it really interesting, and if you're of a similar temperament to me, you probably will too!

Next, a plane crashes in the jungle.