Old Sparky: The Electric Chair and the History of the Death Penalty

✍ Scribed by Galvin, Anthony

• Book ID: 108424854
• Publisher: Carrel Books
• Year: 2015
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 2 MB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781631440267

✦ Synopsis

In early 2013, Robert Gleason became the latest victim of the electric chair, a peculiarly American execution method. Shouting Pog mo thin ("Kiss my ass" in Gaelic) he grinned electricity shot through his system. When the current was switched off his body slumped against the leather restraints, and Gleeson, who had strangled two fellow inmates to ensure his execution was not postponed, was dead. The execution had gone flawlessly--not a guaranteed result with the electric chair, which has gone horrifically wrong on many occasions.
Old Sparky covers the history of capital punishment in America and the "current wars" between Edison and Westinghouse which led to the development of the electric chair. It examines how the electric chair became the most popular method of execution in America, before being superseded by lethal injection. Famous executions are explored, alongside quirky last meals and poignant last words.
The death penalty remains a hot...