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Last Gasp : The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber by Scott Christianson (2010, Hardcover)
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Publisher: University of California Press ISBN 13: 9780520255623. Will be clean, not soiled or stained.
- Buy It NowThe Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber, Christian HB+=
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherUniversity of California Press
ISBN-100520255623
ISBN-139780520255623
eBay Product ID (ePID)78690708
Product Key Features
Book TitleLast Gasp : the Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber
Number of Pages344 Pages
LanguageEnglish
TopicUnited States / 20th Century, Military / General, Penology, United States / General
Publication Year2010
IllustratorYes
GenreSocial Science, History
AuthorScott Christianson
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height1.1 in
Item Weight20.8 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width6 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2009-052476
TitleLeadingThe
Dewey Edition22
Reviews"This sobering work is recommended to all readers interested in exploring the topic."--Library Journal, "Christianson has written the definitive (actually, the only) history of the gas chamber. It is a history so complicated and convoluted that it reads almost like something out of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow."-- California Lawyer, "Christianson makes a chilling argument for its [the gas chamber's]-and the death penalty's-abolition." STARRED REVIEW, _The book fills a lacuna of knowledge with a compelling narrative that will be of broad interest not only to historians, sociologists, and legal scholars but also to a nonscholarly audience._, "Christianson makes a chilling argument for its [the gas chamber's]--and the death penalty's--abolition." STARRED REVIEW--Publishers Weekly, "Christianson makes a chilling argument for its [the gas chamber's]--and the death penalty's--abolition." STARRED REVIEW-- Publishers Weekly, "First full-scale history of gas chamber connects murky (and sure-to-be controversial) dots, including Hitler's adoption of American technology and joint American-German research and development."--American History, "This sobering work is recommended to all readers interested in exploring the topic."-- Library Journal, First full-scale history of gas chamber connects murky (and sure-to-be controversial) dots, including Hitler's adoption of American technology and joint American-German research and development., Christianson has written the definitive (actually, the only) history of the gas chamber. It is a history so complicated and convoluted that it reads almost like something out of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow., "Christianson makes a chilling argument for its [the gas chamber's]--and the death penalty's--abolition." STARRED REVIEW, "First full-scale history of gas chamber connects murky (and sure-to-be controversial) dots, including Hitler's adoption of American technology and joint American-German research and development."-- American History, _First full-scale history of gas chamber connects murky (and sure-to-be controversial) dots, including Hitler_s adoption of American technology and joint American-German research and development._
Dewey Decimal364.66
Table Of ContentList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction PART ONE THE RISE OF THE LETHAL CHAMBER 1. Envisioning the Lethal Chamber 2. Fashioning a Frightful Weapon of War 3. Devising "Constructive Peacetime Uses" 4. Staging the World's First Gas Execution 5. "Like Watering Flowers" 6. Pillar of Respectability 7. The Rising Storm 8. Adapted for Genocide PART TWO THE FALL OF THE GAS CHAMBER 9. Clouds of Abolition 10. The Battle over Capital Punishment 11 "Cruel and Unusual Punishment"? 12. The Last Gasp Appendix 1: Earl C. Liston's Patent Application Appendix 2: Persons Executed by Lethal Gas in the United States, by State, 1924-1999 Notes Select Bibliography Index
SynopsisThe Last Gasp takes us to the dark side of human history in the first full chronicle of the gas chamber in the United States. In page-turning detail, award-winning writer Scott Christianson tells a dreadful story that is full of surprising and provocative new findings. First constructed in Nevada in 1924, the gas chamber, a method of killing sealed off and removed from the sight and hearing of witnesses, was originally touted as a "humane" method of execution. Delving into science, war, industry, medicine, law, and politics, Christianson overturns this mythology for good. He exposes the sinister links between corporations looking for profit, the military, and the first uses of the gas chamber after World War I. He explores little-known connections between the gas chamber and the eugenics movement. Perhaps most controversially, he has unearthed new evidence about American and German collaboration in the production and lethal use of hydrogen cyanide and about Hitler's adoption of gas chamber technology developed in the United States. More than a book about the death penalty, this compelling history ultimately reveals much about America's values and power structures in the twentieth century.
LC Classification NumberHV8699.U5C415 2010
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- Oct 18, 2024
Not for everyone but very interesting.
Not for everyone but very interesting.Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-owned
