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The Faithful Executioner
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Check link for latest rating. ( 6,059 ratings, 789 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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The Faithful Executioner
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Ideal for readers interested in biography, early modern history, justice, and the moral complexities of punishment, as well as those who appreciate richly detailed narrative history and explorations of religion and society in Renaissance Europe.
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See moreLife and death, honour and shame in the turbulent sixteenth century.
Life and death, honour and shame in the turbulent sixteenth century.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
In a dusty German bookshop, the noted historian Joel F. Harrington stumbled upon a remarkable document: the journal of a sixteenth-century executioner. The journal gave an account of the 394 people Meister Frantz Schmidt executed, and the hundreds more he tortured, flogged, or disfigured for more than forty-five years in the city of Nuremberg. But the portrait of Schmidt that gradually emerged was not that of a monster. Could a man who practiced such cruelty also be insightful, compassionate โ even progressive?
In The Faithful Executioner, Harrington teases out the hidden meanings and drama of Schmidt's journal. Deemed an official outcast, Meister Frantz sought to prove himself worthy of honour and free his children from the stigma of his profession. Harrington uncovers details of Schmidt's life and work: the shocking, but often familiar, crimes of the day; the medical practice that he felt was his true calling; and his lifelong struggle to reconcile his craft with his religious faith.
In this groundbreaking and intimate portrait, Harrington shows us that our thinking about justice and punishment, and our sense of our own humanity, are not so remote from the world of The Faithful Executioner.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The Wall Street Journal praises it as a "fascinating" and engrossing resurrection of a singular life and an entire world. The Washington Post calls it "remarkable" and a thoughtful exploration of capital punishmentโs human implications. Reviews consistently highlight its deeply researched, vivid, and poignant portrayal of a challenging historical subject, with History Today and Publishers Weekly commending its nuance and readability.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781250043610
Publisher: Picador USA
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 31 December 2013
Country: United States
Imprint: Picador USA
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 21.0mm
Width: 139.0mm
Height: 208.0mm
Weight: 300g
Pages: 320
About the Author
Joel F. Harrington is a professor of history at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of The Unwanted Child, Reordering Marriage and Society in Reformation Germany and A Cloud of Witnesses.
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