Download or read book The Guillotine Choice written by Michael J. Malone and published by . This book was released on 2014-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1920's French-controlled Algeria, Kaci is in the frame for the brutal murder of his French boss. Kaci is faced with a stark choice: name his cousin as the killer and win his freedom, or keep quiet and face 25 years' hard labor in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony. Either way, one of them is destined for the world's worst prison--a hell on earth that few men survive. The Guillotine Choice is a novel based on the true story of an Algerian man's years in one of history's most notorious prisons. A real-life Shawshank Redemption, it is an inspirational story of endurance and the triumph of dignity over despair in almost unimaginably horrific conditions.

Download or read book The Guillotine Squad written by Guillermo Arriaga and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-05-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Full of Arriaga's trademark humor and irony present in his films and novels, The Guillotine Squad takes us back to one of the most exciting times in Mexican history. Feliciano Velasco y Borbolla de la Fuente, a lawyer, sells his famous invention, the guillotine, to Pancho Villa, the renowned insurgent general of the Mexican Revolution. Soon Feliciano finds himself immersed in the logic of this simultaneously bizarre, heroic, and cruel world of Villa's troops.

Download or read book Blade of the Guillotine written by Arthur Byron Cover and published by Bantam. This book was released on 1986 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reader journeys back in time to late-eighteenth-century France and becomes caught up in the turmoil and tragedy of the French Revolution.

Download or read book When the Guillotine Fell written by Jeremy Mercer and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008-06-24 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How long did the guillotine's blade hang over the heads of French criminals? Was it abandoned in the late 1800s? Did French citizens of the early days of the twentieth century decry its brutality? No. The blade was allowed to do its work well into our own time. In 1974, Hamida Djandoubi brutally tortured 22 year-old Elisabeth Bousquet in an apartment in Marseille, putting cigarettes out on her body and lighting her on fire, finally strangling her to death in the Provencal countryside where he left her body to rot. In 1977, he became the last person executed by guillotine in France in a multifaceted case as mesmerizing for its senseless violence as it is though-provoking for its depiction of a France both in love with and afraid of The Foreigner. In a thrilling and enlightening account of a horrendous murder paired with the history of the guillotine and the history of capital punishment, Jeremy Mercer, a writer well known for his view of the underbelly of French life, considers the case of Hamida Djandoubi in the vast flow of blood that France's guillotine has produced. In his hands, France never looked so bloody...

Download or read book The Guillotine written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-01-22 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts describing the use of the guillotine *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "But here I should imagine the most terrible part of the whole punishment is, not the bodily pain at all-but the certain knowledge that in an hour, then in ten minutes, then in half a minute, then now-this very instant-your soul must quit your body and that you will no longer be a man-and that this is certain, certain!" - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot The Guillotine. Its very name recalls scenes of horror during the French Revolution, as nobles lost their heads while gangs of people cheered and Madame Defarge knitted. Some of history's most famous people lost their heads at the guillotine, including Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI of France, and Robespierre, and the apparatus is immediately recognizable across the world, not just for its appearance but for all the stories it featured prominently in. However, the truth behind this device is much more complicated than its short-lived use during France's Reign of Terror. For one thing, societies have been executing people since ancient times and have used various devices, the guillotine being just one. Even as early as the 13th century, there were moves among some to make the arduous task of state-sanctioned executions quicker and easier, and in time, the evolution of various devices helped bring about the invention of the guillotine. Though many their names have now faded into history, both the instruments of the past and the people who used them were the parents of this monstrous device. But a funny thing happened along the way as people became less and less enamored of killing each other, even for those who had themselves committed murder. As the Age of Enlightenment spread in the mid-1700s, so did a sense that government should not take lives at all, or if they did, that they should do so as quickly and painlessly as possible. Thus it was that the guillotine was created, not to hurt others so much as to dispatch those condemned as painlessly as possible. It is but a sad coincidence that its design was perfected on the eve of one of the bloodiest eras in French history; had it been developed at another point in time, it might very-well have been hailed as a merciful way to mete out justice. Like all important devices, the guillotine did not remain unchanged during its centuries of use. Its design was periodically tweaked for decades until the latter half of the 19th century, when it was completely redesigned, likely in light of a growing hostility toward capital punishment in general and beheadings in particular. By this time, such notable Frenchmen as Victor Hugo had spoken out against the right of the state to take a human life. Even the Sanson family, who had served as France's executioners for more nearly 200 years, had given up their work, and it fell to others to master the new apparatus. These men would be increasingly maligned for their work as a more civilized world insisted that it was not for the state to conduct executions. That said, it often surprises people to learn that the guillotine remained in use through the middle part of the 20th century, outliving other barbaric practices like slavery by nearly 100 years. Though the government outlawed public executions in the mid-1930s, men and women continued to be beheaded in the name of justice long after the end of World War II. But ultimately, the times were changing, and Nazi and Japanese atrocities had opened the eyes of many to man's ability to hurt fellow man. Killing was even less attractive to those who had already killed in the name of patriotism, and their voices raised, higher and higher, until ultimately the device that had dispatched royalty and paupers alike was finally used for the last time. As one author wrote, "May it never be used again."

Download or read book Dry guillotine written by R. Belbenoit and published by Рипол Классик. This book was released on 1938 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Illustration by a fellow prisoner. The text in this volume is based on the original translation from the French by Preston Rambo.

Download or read book Guillotine Its Legend and Lore written by Daniel Charles Gerould and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the guillotine as a cultural artifact, examining its representation in the arts, both high and low, over the course of two centuries.

Download or read book The Guillotine and the Cross written by Warren Hasty Carroll and published by . This book was released on 2004-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The persistent myths of the French Revolution--that the destruction of the old order brought unrivaled freedom and happiness for Europe--are shattered in this rousing study of the political violence and social turmoil that struck France in the late 18th century. In the midst of the terrors which unfettered Enlightenment ideology unleashed on the West, Christian hope arose anew to bring true light to one of history's darkest hours.

Download or read book What a Way to Go written by Geoffrey Abbott and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2007-04-17 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this wickedly humorous book, Geoffrey Abbott describes the effectiveness of instruments of torture and reveals the macabre origins of familiar phrases such as 'gone west' or 'drawn a blank'. Covering everything from the preparation of the victim to the disposal of the body 'What a Way to Go' is everything you ever wanted to know about the ultimate penalty--and a lot you never thought to ask."--Publisher's description

Download or read book Hiding the Guillotine written by Emmanuel Taïeb and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-15 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hiding the Guillotine examines the question of state involvement in violence by tracing the evolution of public executions in France. Why did the state move executions from the bloody and public stage of the guillotine to behind prison doors? In a fascinating exploration of a grim subject, Emmanuel Taïeb exposes the rituals and theatrical form of the death penalty and tells us who watched, who participated in, and who criticized (and ultimately brought an end to) a spectacle that the state called "punishment." France's abolition of the death penalty in 1981 has long overshadowed its suppression of public executions over forty years earlier. Since the Revolution, executions attracted tens of thousands of curious onlookers. But, gradually, there was a shift in attitude and the public no longer saw this as a civilized pastime. Why? Combining material from legal archives, police files, an executioner's notebooks, newspaper clippings, and documents relating to 566 executions, Hiding the Guillotine answers this question. Taïeb demonstrates the ways in which the media was at the vanguard of putting an end to the publicity surrounding the death penalty. The press had ample reason to be critical: cities were increasingly being used for leisure activity and prisons for those accused of criminal activity. The agitation surrounding each execution, coupled with a growing identification with the condemned, would blur these boundaries. Ranked among the top hundred history books by the website, Café du Web Historizo, Hiding the Guillotine has much to impart to students of legal history, human rights, and criminology, as well as to American historians.

Download or read book History of the Guillotine Revised From the Quarterly Review written by John Wilson Croker and published by Legare Street Press. This book was released on 2022-10-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Download or read book Winner s Choice written by Jonathan Akin and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2007-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wouldn't you just kill for a five-star, fantasy vacation filled with excitement, elbow rubbing with "The Beautiful People", and a chance at fame and fortune? Would you do it to make all your dreams come true? Talk show host Ga'Norea Jackson did and she became an overnight sensation. Now, in the National Lottery Association's third winning season of combining two of the nation's favorite pastimes, playing the lottery and watching executions, Peter James finally gets his chance. All he has to do is pull the lever. How hard can that be? Follow Peter behind the scenes for one week as he gets caught up in media frenzy, decides which former death row inmate (now a "Lottery Candidate") to execute on the show, and falls for his chauffeur, Allison Davies, whose secret past with one of the candidates jumps into the spotlight. Watch as Peter becomes an unwitting pawn to his idol Hank Maxwell, the host of the NLA's show, who will use anyone he can in his unsavory schemes for money, power, and ratings. And don't forget to breathe as Peter wrestles his conscience to pull the lever on the spectacular live broadcast.

Download or read book Choice Literature written by and published by . This book was released on 1884 with total page 1172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Beware Madame la Guillotine written by Sarah Towle and published by . This book was released on 2014-03-16 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Time-travel to 1793 and the French Revolution with this historical drama narrated by Charlotte Corday, 24-year-old schoolgirl-turned-murderess. Find out why she abandoned her family to stalk radical leader Jean-Paul Marat. Experience how she was caught up in the chaos that claimed the lives of her king and queen, and rocked her nation, and the world, forever. Time Traveler Tales interactive books harness the fiction writer's flair for storytelling with the scholar's pursuit of fact to bring history to life. They are true stories, beautifully told, and peppered throughout with puzzles, text boxes, and archival illustrations. What's more, our narrators, hand picked from the historical record, are certain to draw you in and keep you there. Discover history with those who made it!

Download or read book Choices written by Merle Hoffman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Merle Hoffman has always known that in a democracy, we each have decision-making power over the fate of our own bodies. She is a national hero for us all.” ​—Gloria Steinem In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade and a country divided, a pioneer in the pro-choice movement and women’s healthcare offers an unapologetic and authoritative take on abortion and women's right to choose. Merle Hoffman has been at the forefront of the reproductive freedom movement since the 1970s. Three years before the Supreme Court legalized abortion through Roe v. Wade, she helped to establish one of the United States’ first abortion centers in Flushing, Queens, and later went on to found Choices, one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive women’s medical facilities. For the last five decades, Hoffman has been a steadfast warrior and fierce advocate for every woman’s right to choose when and whether or not to be a mother. Now, amidst the aftermath of the Dobbs Decision, Hoffman has carefully compiled her decades of analysis, research, and experience into a tour de force manifesto that sheds light on the catastrophic repercussions of overturning Roe, and what we must do moving forward to ensure the safety and legality of abortion nationally. In Choices, Hoffman expresses her views on where we are and what lies ahead. She covers topics ranging from: revamping the healthcare system to support women’s rights; combatting rising authoritarianism; the weaponization of religion; fighting the antis; practicing courage; sabotage from within the movement; and activating the next generation in the fight for reproductive justice.

Download or read book The Early Choice written by William King Tweedie and published by . This book was released on 1868 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Suitable Lie written by Michael J. Malone and published by Orenda Books. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recently widowed and caring for his young son, Andy Boyd thinks his life is over, until he meets the beautiful, enigmatic Anna. And that was his first mistake ... A startling, emotive and stark psychological thriller from one of Scotland's bestselling crime writers... 'A stark, gripping storyline' Scots 'Strong female characters, honest, pithy dialogue and ever-present empathy for the victims make this a deeply satisfying read' Sunday Times 'Vivid, visceral and compulsive' Ian Rankin _________________ Some secrets should never be kept... Andy Boyd thinks he is the luckiest man alive. Widowed with a young child, after his wife dies in childbirth, he is certain that he will never again experience true love. Then he meets Anna. Feisty, fun and beautiful, she's his perfect match ... and she loves his son like he is her own. When Andy ends up in the hospital on his wedding night, he receives his first clue that Anna is not all that she seems. Desperate for that happy-ever-after, he ignores it. A dangerous mistake that could cost him everything. A brave, deeply moving, page-turning psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie marks a stunning departure for one of Scotland's finest crime writers, exploring the lengths people will go to hide their deepest secrets, even if it kills them... _________________ 'Malone tackles the taboo subject of female violence against men with insight and compassion (for Anna is no one-dimensional witch), while creating all the hallmarks of a fine, page-turning psychological thriller' Daily Mail 'A mystery involving some disturbing account anomalies at Andy's bank is appropriately overshadowed by Malone's painful depiction of a man in turmoil' Publishers Weekly 'It's a tough high-wire act, balancing believability with surprise, but the author pulls it off with aplomb. Excellent stuff' Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue 'Disturbing but compulsive ... I loved it' Martina Cole 'Bristling with unease, this is domestic noir at its very darkest, twisting the marriage thriller into a new and troubling shape' Eva Dolan 'A deeply personal thriller that will keep the reader turning those pages, with twists and turns designed to keep the heart pumping' Russel D. McLean 'A tightly wound page-turner with real emotional punch' Rod Reynolds 'A dark and unnerving psychological thriller that draws you deep into the lives of the characters and refuse to let go' Caroline Mitchell 'A chilling tale of the unexpected that journeys right into the dark heart of domesticity' Marnie Riches 'Emotionally intelligent and engaging' Caro Ramsay 'A story that I won't forget in a hurry. Malone is a massive talent' Luca Veste 'A disturbing and realistic portrayal of domestic noir with a twist ... a shocking yet compelling read' Mel Sherratt 'Malone perfectly balances storytelling with a brutal commentary on a dysfunctional relationship' Sarah Ward