The last gasp [[electronic resource] ] : the rise and fall of the American gas chamber / / Scott Christianson

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910784919703321
• Autore: Christianson Scott
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2010
• ISBN: 1-282-69765-X; 9786612697654; 0-520-94561-1
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (342 p.)
• Disciplina: 364.66
• Soggetti: Gas chambers - United States - History; Capital punishment - United States - History - 20th century
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION -- PART ONE. THE RISE OF THE LETHAL CHAMBER -- PART TWO. THE FALL OF THE GAS CHAMBER -- APPENDIX 1: EARL C. LISTON'S PATENT APPLICATION -- APPENDIX 2: PERSONS EXECUTED BY LETHAL GAS IN THE UNITED STATES, BY STATE, 1924 - 1999 -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: The Last Gasp takes us to the dark side of human history in the first full chronicle of the gas chamber in the United States. In page-turning detail, award-winning writer Scott Christianson tells a dreadful story that is full of surprising and provocative new findings. First constructed in Nevada in 1924, the gas chamber, a method of killing sealed off and removed from the sight and hearing of witnesses, was originally touted as a "humane" method of execution. Delving into science, war, industry, medicine, law, and politics, Christianson overturns this mythology for good. He exposes the sinister links between corporations looking for profit, the military, and the first uses of the gas chamber after World War I. He explores little-known connections between the gas chamber and the eugenics movement. Perhaps most controversially, he has unearthed new evidence about American and German collaboration in the production and lethal use of hydrogen cyanide and about Hitler's ; adoption of gas chamber technology developed in the United States. More than a book about the death penalty, this compelling history ultimately reveals much about America's values and power structures in the twentieth century.