From the gruesomely familiar to the grisly and bizarre, this unique encyclopedia provides the most comprehensive history ever published of the "art" of execution—the ultimate penalty. Details the many ingenious and seemingly incomprehensible means used through history, including the more familiar guillotine, stoning, and crucifixion, such less-known acts as sewing a victim into the belly of a dead animal, and such "modern" methods as lethal injection and the electric chair. Black-and-white illustrations.