Revisiting the Hanging Tree

摘要: In 1994 V. A. C. Gatrell published The Hanging Tree: Execution and the English People 1770-1868. Though book has been widely cited by historians, its complex argument about relationship between punishment culture too little understood. work also failed to win wider audience it deserves among social scientists. purpose of this review is explicate Gatrell's thesis, making clear psychoanalytic assumptions that guide his investigation. It evaluates claims impact meaning a revolution in sensibility connection with decline use capital eventual disappearance execution from public view. Even as acknowledges striking importance historical research, essay raises questions causal explanation offers for remarkable transformation he describes.