{"product_id":"seeing-justice-done-the-age-of-spectacular-capital-punishment-in-france-paperback","title":"Seeing Justice Done: The Age of Spectacular Capital Punishment in France - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePaul Friedland\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom 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\u003cbr\u003etake 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePartly a history of penal theory, partly an anthropologically-inspired study of the penal ritual, \u003cem\u003eSeeing Justice Done\u003c\/em\u003e 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, nit only in France but in the Western penal tradition more generally.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaul Friedland \u003c\/strong\u003eis Professor of History at Cornell University. His first book, \u003cem\u003ePolitical Actors: Representative Bodies and Theatricality in the Age of the French Revolution\u003c\/em\u003e (2002), was awarded the Pinkney Prize for the best book of the year by the Society for French Historical Studies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 346\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 9.1 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 03, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42135370727559,"sku":"9780198715993","price":83.77,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/0ae00632f822a33c41f1270a4297a572.webp?v=1732648988","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/seeing-justice-done-the-age-of-spectacular-capital-punishment-in-france-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}