About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
It is easy to forget that the death penalty was an accepted aspect of Canadian culture and criminal justice until 1976. The Practice of Execution in Canada is not about what led some to the gallows and others to escape it. Rather, it examines how the routine rituals and practices of execution can be seen as a crucial social institution. Drawing on hundreds of case files, Ken Leyton-Brown shows that from trial to interment, the practice of execution was constrained by law and tradition. Despite this, however, the institution was not rigid. Criticism and reform pushed executions out of the public eye, and in so doing, stripped them of meaningful ritual and made them more vulnerable to criticism.
Contributor Notes
Ken Leyton-Brown is an associate professor in the History Department at the University of Regina.
Awards
- Commended, Canadian Law & Society Book Prize
Editorial Reviews
This study of executions in Canada is morbidly fascinating—literally. In calm, clear, well-written prose, Leyton-Brown looks at several hundred Canadian executions and presents details about enough of them to make a good story ... anyone who reads this dispassionate book will have difficulty concluding that execution can ever be justified. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
— CHOICE, Vol 48, No 3
It is difficult to find any major faults with this study, which is a welcome addition to Canadian legal history.
— Law and Politics Book Review, Vol 21, No 5
Ken Leyton-Brown has tackled an enormously important piece of research and The Practice of Execution in Canada will, without a doubt, serve as an important reference. Everyone who opposes, and also those who favour the death penalty should read it.
— ActiveHistory.ca
