Generation after generation has come up with new forms of punishment to inflict on those guilty (and sometimes innocent) of crimes against property and person. From the stocks and pillory, to flogging, ducking and transportation to foreign lands, this volume brings to life those turbulent times of long ago. Even after suffering the ultimate in punishments — death — the bodies of the convicted could still be punished. Stories of dissection, when the body of the deceased criminal was publicly carved up, or gibbeting, when the corpse would be coated in tar and canvass and displayed in an iron frame on a pole 30ft high, are gruesome in the extreme. Pity poor John Spencer, whose rotting remains were gibbeted for over sixty years until the cage was finally blown down in a storm. Richly illustrated, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into the dark world of punishments through the centuries and will appeal to all those wishing to discover more about Nottinghamshire's intriguing past.

The authors of London: City of the Dead and London: The Executioners City expand their history of grim, ancient punishments into the realm of the "social" punishments used in workhouses, churches, and schools All manner of vile punishments from London's long and bloody history are collected here. Over the centuries, many hundreds have expired inside dank, rat-infested cells, or while "dancing the Tyburn jig" at the end of a swinging rope, and many of the sites have become bywords for infamy. From the Tower and Newgate prison to the Clink and the Fleet, this book explores London’s criminal heritage; including the stocks and pillories that lie, almost forgotten, in churchyards and squares across the city, it is a heartbreaking survey of the nation’s penal history. Richly illustrated and filled with victims and villains, nobles, executioners, and torturers, it will delight historians, travelers, and armchair travelers alike.

Look beyond the pretty cottages and gentle landscapes of the Cotswolds, and you will find a dark history of crime and punishment. From child thieves, poachers, conmen, prostitutes and would-be suicides to bigamists, highwaymen and murderers, the Cotswolds has had its fair share of criminals – treated in what appears to us today to be an arbitrary and often unduly harsh manner by judges and juries. What crimes were committed in this rural society in the past, and how were they punished? This book looks at the variety of punishments bestowed to miscreants – from being hanged from a portable gallows at the scene of a crime to transportation or hard labour – and why some were punished more than others. Evidence is taken from contemporary sources: prison records, newspaper accounts and broadsides that celebrated the lives and deaths of local characters. It is a fascinating and shocking read.