The most recommended books on capital punishment

Who picked these books? Meet our 28 experts.

28 authors created a book list connected to capital punishment, and here are their favorite capital punishment books.
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Book cover of The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770-1868

Lucienne Boyce Author Of The Fatal Coin: A Dan Foster novella

From my list on historical stories about the common people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write historical fiction, non-fiction, and biography. My historical fiction is set in the eighteenth century, which is often pictured as a time when people swanned about in fancy clothes, lived on country estates, travelled in gleaming carriages, and dined and danced their nights away in glittering assembly rooms. But most people didn’t live like that at all, although they are the ones who made the clothes, worked on the estates, drove the carriages, cooked the food, and cleaned the rooms. The books on my list focus on history from their point of view. In my own work – fiction and non-fiction – I’m also interested in telling the stories of so-called “ordinary” people.

Lucienne's book list on historical stories about the common people

Lucienne Boyce Why did Lucienne love this book?

The Hanging Tree is one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read about how the other half (more like seven-eights actually) lived. It describes the experience of the mainly lower-class people who suffered under the Bloody Code, when over 250 offences carried the death penalty. By using diaries, memoirs, broadsides, petitions for mercy, letters, and other contemporary documents, Gatrell gives voice to the executed, their executioners, witnesses, reformers, judges and juries. It’s an unflinching study of a ghastly reality that goes to the heart of what it means to be a civilized society and challenges several cozy myths along the way. I admit it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, and of course, the subject matter is dark, but Gatrell is a compelling writer, vivid, forthright and passionate.

By V.A.C. [Vic] Gatrell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Hanging Tree as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hanging people for small crimes as well as grave, the Bloody Penal Code was at its most active between 1770 and 1830. In those years some 7,000 men and women were executed on public scaffolds, watched by thousands. Hanging was confined to murderers thereafter, but these were still killed in public until 1868. Clearly the gallows loomed over much of social life in this period. But how did those who watched, read about, or ordered these strangulations feel about the
terror and suffering inflicted in the law's name? What kind of justice was delivered, and how did it change?

This…


Book cover of Reversible Errors

Shelle Rose Charvet Author Of Words That Change Minds: The 14 Patterns for Mastering the Language of Influence

From Shelle's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author

Shelle's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Shelle Rose Charvet Why did Shelle love this book?

Great story by a great author. Lots of plot twists. Wonderful legal fiction.

By Scott Turow,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Reversible Errors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Rommy "Squirrel" Gandloph is an inmate on death row for a 1991 triple murder. His slow progress toward execution is nearing completion when Arthur Raven, a corporate lawyer and Rommy's reluctant representative, receives word of new evidence that will exonerate Gandolph. Arthur's opponent is the formidable prosecuting attorney Muriel Wynn. Together with Larry Starczek, the original detective on the case, she is determined to see Rommy's fate sealed. Meanwhile the judge who originally found him guilty is just out of prison herself. Scott Turow's compelling, multi-dimensional characters take the reader into Kindle County's parallel yet intersecting worlds of weary police,…


Book cover of Stolen Time: One Woman's Inspiring Story as an Innocent Condemned to Death

Karen Slater Author Of My Journey Through Hell: Finding My True Worth

From my list on real life stories of people overcoming adversity.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Karen Slater the author of My Journey Through Hell. It’s a memoir of addiction and generational abuse. A story about my dysfunctional childhood and the negative consequences that took me to hell and back. The books I love the most are the stories that inspire me. The true stories of real people overcoming tragedy and adversity give me such hope and motivation to keep on doing what I do and reach other people still struggling. I like to think these are the books that radiate courage and optimism and let others know that we all have our crosses to bear but we can bear them nonetheless.

Karen's book list on real life stories of people overcoming adversity

Karen Slater Why did Karen love this book?

This is my all-time favourite book. I heard the author tell her story and her resilience over a zoom conference and I immediately knew that my life would never be the same. I didn’t know how but I knew I would be different.

Stolen Time is about a woman wrongly convicted for murder who spent 17 years incarcerated, five of those years were spent in solitary confinement on death row. Her partner was also sentenced and in fact executed two years before Sunny was exonerated. It's the beautiful way Sunny speaks that made this my all-time favourite read. It’s a love story with real tragedy but told in the most resilient and forgiving way. I found it totally inspiring. Sunny taught me that no matter what the circumstances we have a duty to love and forgive no matter what if we want to live free. No one can steal our…

By Sunny Jacobs,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Stolen Time as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'In a world of one, I am alone, more alone than I have ever been in my life.Locked up in a box within a box where no one can enter and I cannot leave. I am to await my death.' In 1976 a twenty-eight-year-old mother of two and her partner were wrongfully sentenced to death by the Florida courts for the murder of two police officers. Sunny Jacobs would not taste freedom again for seventeen years, by which time her two children were estranged, her parents were dead and her beloved partner, Jesse Tafero, had been executed. Sunny spent five…


Book cover of Seeing Justice Done: The Age of Spectacular Capital Punishment in France

Una McIlvenna Author Of Singing the News of Death: Execution Ballads in Europe 1500-1900

From my list on the history of capital punishment.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I started researching the history of early modern public execution, I read a few eyewitness accounts in which people behaved so strangely that I realised I understood nothing about the realities of this once-common historical practice. By reading the books on this list, I quickly discovered that the ceremony of capital punishment was a performance in which the entire community participated, filled with rituals and behaviours that had enormous emotional and spiritual significance for everyone involved, not just the ‘poor sinner’ on the scaffold. I also discovered that music and singing were crucial parts of the performance, with ballads being sung about the event for years afterwards. 

Una's book list on the history of capital punishment

Una McIlvenna Why did Una love this book?

Many think that the medieval period was the era of cruel and sadistic punishment, but it was, in fact, the Renaissance that saw the rise of the great spectacle of the 'theatre of horror': scaffolds erected to display the brutal dismemberment and suffering of executed prisoners in front of thousands of spectators. Although it focuses on France, Friedland's study explores why, all across Europe, this period saw an appetite for something so graphic. It explores the history of capital punishment from the Romans onwards, so it's essential reading for the theory behind executions, but the real strength lies in its exploration of the gulf between what theorists believed and what the general public actually did at executions, and why they attended in their thousands. 

By Paul Friedland,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Seeing Justice Done as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the early Middle Ages to the twentieth century, capital punishment in France, as in many other countries, was staged before large crowds of spectators. Paul Friedland traces the theory and practice of public executions over time, both from the perspective of those who staged these punishments as well as from the vantage point of the many thousands who came to "see justice done". While penal theorists often stressed that the fundamental purpose of public
punishment was to strike fear in the hearts of spectators, the eagerness with which crowds flocked to executions and the extent to which spectators actually…


Book cover of Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death

Stacey Swann Author Of Olympus, Texas

From my list on that show Texas isn't just about cattle and oil.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was born and raised in Texas, and I’ve lived here most of my life. For good or for ill, Texas looms large in the American consciousness and, since everything is bigger in Texas, so are the stereotypes. While you can definitely still find cattle ranches and oil wells in our state, modern Texas is much more complex and diverse than many people might think. While I love books that show those traditional elements of Texas (looking at you, Lonesome Dove!), I have always delighted in finding books that give me a new lens on what it means to be a Texan. I hope you’re delighted by these too.

Stacey's book list on that show Texas isn't just about cattle and oil

Stacey Swann Why did Stacey love this book?

I spent my twenties watching in horror as Texas and then-Governor Bush executed more prisoners than any other governor in modern American history, only to be replaced by Gov. Rick Perry who executed even more. In Chammah’s deeply researched non-fiction exploration of the death penalty, he focuses on Texas, “the epicenter of capital punishment.” I better understood our justice system through his intimate focus on the individuals impacted by the larger system. And the book gave me a measure of hope, too—the societal problems that seem intractable can actually improve over time, through the work of many.

By Maurice Chammah,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Let the Lord Sort Them as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE • A deeply reported, searingly honest portrait of the death penalty in Texas—and what it tells us about crime and punishment in America

“If you’re one of those people who despair that nothing changes, and dream that something can, this is a story of how it does.”—Anand Giridharadas, The New York Times Book Review

WINNER OF THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS AWARD

In 1972, the United States Supreme Court made a surprising ruling: the country’s death penalty system violated the Constitution. The backlash was swift, especially in Texas, where executions were considered part of the cultural…


Book cover of A Place of Execution

Cheryl Rees-Price Author Of The Silent Quarry

From my list on crime to keep you turning the pages.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the author of the DI Winter Meadows series. I love reading and writing crime fiction, especially books set in rural locations. I live in South Wales where I go hiking mountains, exploring caves, and discovering waterfalls. I take inspiration from these remote areas and close-knit communities to create the settings, characters, and plots for my books.

Cheryl's book list on crime to keep you turning the pages

Cheryl Rees-Price Why did Cheryl love this book?

One of the best twists I’ve read.

In 1963 13-year-old Alison Carter vanishes from her home. A man is convicted and hung for her murder. Her body is never found. 35 years later Catherine Heathcote is writing a book about the Carter investigation, but she is not prepared for what she is about to discover.

The story is atmospheric with well-drawn characters. The first half of the book follows the investigation in 1963 and gives you an insight into the family of the missing girl. I found myself fully immersed in the tight-knit community. Nothing is as it seems, and this is one book you won’t want to miss. 

By Val McDermid,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Place of Execution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A riveting psychological thriller from the Number One bestselling Queen of crime fiction - Val McDermid.

In the Peak District village of Scardale, thirteen-year-old girls didn't just run away. So when Alison Carter vanished in the winter of '63, everyone knew it was a murder.

Catherine Heathcote remembers the case well. A child herself when Alison vanished, decades on she still recalls the sense of fear as parents kept their children close, terrified of strangers.

Now a journalist, she persuades DI George Bennett to speak of the hunt for Alison, the tantalizing leads and harrowing dead ends. But when a…


Book cover of Tyburn's Martyrs: Execution in England, 1675-1775

Una McIlvenna Author Of Singing the News of Death: Execution Ballads in Europe 1500-1900

From my list on the history of capital punishment.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I started researching the history of early modern public execution, I read a few eyewitness accounts in which people behaved so strangely that I realised I understood nothing about the realities of this once-common historical practice. By reading the books on this list, I quickly discovered that the ceremony of capital punishment was a performance in which the entire community participated, filled with rituals and behaviours that had enormous emotional and spiritual significance for everyone involved, not just the ‘poor sinner’ on the scaffold. I also discovered that music and singing were crucial parts of the performance, with ballads being sung about the event for years afterwards. 

Una's book list on the history of capital punishment

Una McIlvenna Why did Una love this book?

McKenzie looks at the extraordinary phenomenon of the 'last dying speech' that condemned prisoners in Britain got to give from the scaffold. In particular, she explores events at Tyburn, London's most notorious execution site, in the 18th century, exploring how this period saw an explosion of printed literature that featured the criminal as an Everyman from whom everyone could learn a harsh lesson in morality. It's a fantastic exploration of the reality of the gallows versus what one could read in print: from the 'game' highwayman who refused to bow to society's expectations to the fearful, trembling prisoner who begged for mercy. Totally fascinating. 

By Andrea McKenzie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tyburn's Martyrs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The public execution at Tyburn is one of the most evocative and familiar of all eighteenth-century images. Whether it elicits horror or prurient fascination - or both - the Tyburn hanging day has become synonymous with the brutality of a bygone age and a legal system which valued property over human life.But, as this fascinating cultural and social history of the gallows reveals, the early modern execution was far more than just a debased spectator sport. The period between the Restoration and the American Revolution witnessed the rise and fall of a vast body of execution literature - last dying…


Book cover of Cherry Whip

Joe Mahoney Author Of Adventures in the Radio Trade: A Memoir

From Joe's 3 favorite reads in 2024.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Broadcaster Family man Dog person Aspiring martial artist

Joe's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Joe Mahoney Why did Joe love this book?

Cherry Whip is an elegantly constructed, superbly written novel about a young Japanese jazz prodigy named Hiroshi who visits New York and immediately falls ill, placing his budding career (and perhaps his entire life) in jeopardy. Executed with precision, compassion, and wit, Cherry Whip kept me turning the pages.

Hiroshi lives and breathes on the page. Neurotic but charming, I enjoyed his company. His misadventures, including a tragic subplot involving his older sister, are compelling and affecting. Antman writes beautifully on every level: prose, theme, structure, and character.

Cherry Whip is out of print, which is a shame. It's a terrific book that deserves a much wider readership.

By MIchael Antman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cherry Whip as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The poignant and hilarious tale of a Japanese musician's struggles with genius and illness in a vividly realized New York City.

From the back cover:

From the moment the deeply eccentric Hiroshi, a budding Japanese jazz genius, hits American ground, the ground starts hitting back with everything it's got -- just as he is to begin a high-profile gig that promises to make his career.

Hiroshi's experiences in New York are exhilarating and humiliating, thrilling and traumatic in equal measure. As the quirky, disaster-prone, and language- and music-obsessed artist struggles to recover both emotionally and physically from a paralyzing illness…


Book cover of A Time to Die

Jessica Lauren Author Of Liberation

From my list on Christians who loved the Hunger Games.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved fictional works that explore deep truths of humanity and existence. As a teen struggling to understand my purpose and beliefs, I grew fond of dystopian books with subtle, hope-filled messages pointing to God as our salvation amid chaos. I loved the genre so much that I began writing a Christian dystopian novel of my own and self-published it at 19, weaving pieces of my testimony throughout the main character's inner journey. For me, a book is only as good as its characters, no matter how gripping the plot is. So, the books on this list contain some of the genre's most authentic, intricately written souls.

Jessica's book list on Christians who loved the Hunger Games

Jessica Lauren Why did Jessica love this book?

A Time to Die is a gritty dystopian book with many unexpected twists and a unique, intricate world that transported me right into it from the first chapter. I loved how genuine and transparent the main character is in her approach to every new circumstance and her newfound relationship with God.

Each chapter is fast-paced, intense, and almost always ends on a cliffhanger. It is one of the most thrilling, raw survival stories I have read, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a book that will keep them engaged and begging for more when it is over.

By Nadine Brandes,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Time to Die as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 13, 14, 15, and 16.

What is this book about?

How would you live if you knew the day you'd die? 

Parvin Blackwater believes she has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the government's crooked justice system. 

But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall -- her people's death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. But her…


Book cover of Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate

Karen Conti Author Of Killing Time with John Wayne Gacy: Defending America's Most Evil Serial Killer on Death Row

From my list on books for law lovers, fairness fighters, and true crime connoisseurs.

Why am I passionate about this?

From a young age, I read and watched everything about the Jack the Rippers, Black Dahlias, and Ted Bundys of the world. I think humans are fascinated by these killers, the worst of the worst, in the same way we are drawn to the best of the best. We want to know what makes them tick. One of the reasons I became a lawyer is at a young age I wanted to be a part of making sure justice is done—for everyone, regardless of their societal status. An empathetic person, I wanted to help others, even those who made horrific life choices. The law, true crime, and fighting for fairness are my passions!

Karen's book list on books for law lovers, fairness fighters, and true crime connoisseurs

Karen Conti Why did Karen love this book?

Capital punishment has always been a huge social issue for me. Sister Prejean gets you to really confront your own beliefs about it through powerful storytelling and anecdotes, humanizing the players in the death penalty process.

As I have learned through my own death penalty journey as an attorney, it’s easy to say, “Execute him!” but when you know someone and experience their humanity, it is not that simple.

While she makes the points about why she can’t tolerate the ultimate punishment, she is not preachy or maudlin. She is practical. She also does not glorify the condemned and acknowledges the pain caused by his horrific acts.

By Helen Prejean,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dead Man Walking as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A profoundly moving spiritual journey through our system of capital punishment and an unprecedented look at the human consequences of the death penalty • "Stunning moral clarity.” —The Washington Post Book World •Basis for the award-winning major motion picture starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn

"Sister Prejean is an excellent writer, direct and honest and unsentimental. . . . She almost palpably extends a hand to her readers.” —The New York Times Book Review

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, the convicted killer of two teenagers who was sentenced to…


Book cover of The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770-1868
Book cover of Reversible Errors
Book cover of Stolen Time: One Woman's Inspiring Story as an Innocent Condemned to Death

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