For some unknown reason, I chose the book Old Sparky: The Electric Chair and the History of the Death Penalty to be the book I read every night before bed last week. History books usually do make good books before bed, but perhaps not this one.
Of all the methods used to kill people, why did the electric chair gain such popularity in the United States? Author Anthony Galvin sets out to answer this question by first examining other methods used over time. So visions of garroting, beheading, and being blown from a cannon danced in my head as I slept.
Despite its gruesomeness this book is a fascinating (perhaps not the right word) look at of the logistics of the death penalty, how our understanding of what crimes deserve death has changed through the years, and what the future might hold.
Galvin also covers sensation executions, last meals (in case you were wondering, Victor Feguer, the last person executed in Iowa in 1963, requested a single olive for his last meal), and the electric chair's rise and fall in popularity.
All-in-all, this is certainly an enlightening book. It's clearly written and engaging. It avoids dipping into the moral arguments but sticks to a historic account. It may not change your own views on the death penalty, either for or against, but it will certainly make you think.
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