"First published in the United States under the title: Execution, by St. Martin's Press."--Title page verso

"First published in Great Britain under the title: The book of execution, by Headline Book Publishing."--Title page verso

Includes bibliographical references (pages 337-338)

"In this wickedly humorous book, Geoffrey Abbott describes the effectiveness of instruments of torture and reveals the macabre origins of familiar phrases such as 'gone west' or 'drawn a blank'. Covering everything from the preparation of the victim to the disposal of the body 'What a Way to Go' is everything you ever wanted to know about the ultimate penalty--and a lot you never thought to ask."--Publisher's description

Axe -- Bastinado -- Beaten to death -- Boiled alive -- Brazen bull -- Broken on the wheel -- Buried alive -- Buried alive upside-down -- Burned at the stake -- Burned internally -- Cannibalism -- Cauldron -- Cave of roses -- Crucifixion -- Cyphon -- Diele -- Drowning -- Dry pan -- Eaten by animals -- Eaten by crocodiles -- Electric chair -- Firing squad -- Flayed alive -- Fried to death -- Gas chamber -- Gibbet -- Gridiron -- Guillotine -- Gunpowder -- Halifax gibbet -- Hanged alive in chains -- Hanged at the yard-arm -- Hanged, drawn and quartered -- Hanging -- Hara-kiri -- Impaled by stakes -- Iron chair -- Iron maiden -- Keel-hauling -- Lethal injection -- Mannaia -- Mazzatello -- Mill wheel -- Nail through the ear -- Necklacing -- Over a cannon's muzzle -- Pendulum -- Poison -- Pressed to death -- Rack -- Sawn in half -- Scaphismus -- Scottish maiden -- Sewn in an animal's belly -- Shot by arrows -- Spanish donkey -- Starvation -- Stoned to death -- Strangulation -- Suffocation -- Sword -- Thousand cuts -- Throat slitting -- Thrown from a great height -- Tied in a sack with animals -- Torn apart between two trees -- Torn apart by boats -- Torn apart by horses -- Twenty-four cuts -- Miscellaneous -- Jargon of the underworld

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