Seeing Justice Done by Paul Friedland
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 enjoyed the spectacle of suffering suggests that there was a wide gulf between theoretical intentions and actual experiences. Moreover, public executions of animals, effigies, and corpses point to an enduring ritual function that had little to do with exemplary deterrence. In the eighteenth century, when a revolution in sensibilities made it unseemly for individuals to take pleasure in or even witness the suffering of others, capital punishment became the target of reformers. From the invention of the guillotine, which reduced the moment of death to the blink of an eye, to the 1939 decree which moved executions behind prison walls, capital punishment in France was systematically stripped of its spectacular elements. Partly a history of penal theory, partly an anthropologically-inspired study of the penal ritual, Seeing Justice Done traces the historical roots of modern capital punishment, and sheds light on the fundamental "disconnect" between the theory and practice of punishment which endures to this day, not only in France but in the Western penal tradition more generally.
Seeing Justice Done would be a worthwhile addition to any academic law library or other library seeking to enhance its legal history collection and to provide its users with a unique and educational book selection.. It is highly recommended. * Susan Gualtier, Law Library Journal. Volume 105:3. *
Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *
This thoughtful and thought-provoking book is filled with interesting, arcane information. The argument is clear and the research admirable. * The Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
This book's impressive timespan provides the reader with access to an extraordinary range of interrelated material, which Friedland astutely juggles into a cohesive whole. * Alex Fairfax-Cholmeley, French History *
Paul Friedland's book provides a scholarly, coherent and lucid analysis of legal change, social attitudes and the mechanics of crime and punishment in France during the late middle ages and the early modern period, focusing on capital punishment.Anyone wanting to understand how capital punishment developed in the first place, both in France and on the wider European stage, and how the move towards its diminution and abolition began, should read this book. * Hugh Gough, English Historical Review *
"By concentrating on the history of capital punishment when it was performed publicly in France, Friedland hopes to provoke reflection on the continued use of the death penalty in the United States today... [Friedland] has written a sweeping intellectual and cultural history that challenges a number of prevailing explanations about the rise and fall of public executions in France. * H-France *
Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *
This thoughtful and thought-provoking book is filled with interesting, arcane information. The argument is clear and the research admirable. * The Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
This book's impressive timespan provides the reader with access to an extraordinary range of interrelated material, which Friedland astutely juggles into a cohesive whole. * Alex Fairfax-Cholmeley, French History *
Paul Friedland's book provides a scholarly, coherent and lucid analysis of legal change, social attitudes and the mechanics of crime and punishment in France during the late middle ages and the early modern period, focusing on capital punishment.Anyone wanting to understand how capital punishment developed in the first place, both in France and on the wider European stage, and how the move towards its diminution and abolition began, should read this book. * Hugh Gough, English Historical Review *
"By concentrating on the history of capital punishment when it was performed publicly in France, Friedland hopes to provoke reflection on the continued use of the death penalty in the United States today... [Friedland] has written a sweeping intellectual and cultural history that challenges a number of prevailing explanations about the rise and fall of public executions in France. * H-France *
Paul Friedland is an affiliate of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University. He is currently a fellow of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies at Princeton University (2011-2012). His first book, Political Actors: Representative Bodies and Theatricality in the Age of the French Revolution (2002), was awarded the Pinkney Prize for the best book of the year by the Society for French Historical Studies.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780199592692 |
| ISBN 10 | 0199592691 |
| Title | Seeing Justice Done |
| Author | Paul Friedland |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 2012-06-14 |
| Number of pages | 346 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |