The strangest thing about today’s new release from BeWrite Books is that it exists at all.Irene Thompson – author of The A-Z of Punishment and Torture – I remember from shared Fleet Street newspaper days in London over thirty-five years ago as a gentle, cat-loving, human interest writer of great skill and sensitivity, a ballet dancer of grace, with a tiny country cottage in Kent and who spent her spare time quietly in the cathedrals of England, patiently taking brass rubbings from medieval tombs.
Illustrator Catherine Edmunds I’ve known for many years as a fine, nature-inspired, landscape and portrait artist who gives violin lessons to local children and writes haunting poetry and beautiful books and short stories of whimsical fantasy.
Both are warm-hearted mothers who coaxed their children to sleep and sweet dreams with fairy tales and lullabies.
Yet together they have produced a catalogue of cruelty ... from A-Z!
But let’s look again. This is not a sensationalised and gore-splattered work to appeal to the blood-thirsty. The A-Z of Punishment and Torture documents, through sound journalistic research and with no embellishment, man’s inhumanity to man over the ages and makes its readers more aware than ever of how misguided ideas of justice and morality, even today, could (and perhaps do) reduce ‘civilised’ society to barbarity.
As always, Irene’s writing is spiked with subtle humour. As always, Cathy’s art is emotive. You could safely gift this book to your grandchild. And you probably should. The only shock and horror is that every word and every one of the twenty-six illustrations remind us of what can so easily happen when we don’t keep our dark side in check, when we sanction the unforgivable. It’s a vital lesson in book form.
Irene, who after a lifetime of international writing travel now lives with journalist husband John in a peaceful, rural, medieval village fifty miles south of London said: “You can only imagine the flurry of raised eyebrows when the title emerged, accompanied by a chorus of astonished query: ‘What's someone like YOU doing writing something like THAT!’
“The A-Z of Punishment and Torture is a far cry from anything I’ve written before. However, in other respects, it was for me simply a matter of reporting the facts, hard or otherwise which, as a journalist, I had done for decades. In the same way a surgeon regards his patient as a section of flesh to be probed and corrected, I took the tales of torture and cruelty and wrote them down without judgment or sentimentality.
“I did try to minimise the more gory parts as the object of this book is to inform rather than to shock. It’s intended to present an overview of the ways in which humans have punished each other over the centuries and as a warning that some still do. There are moments of levity to lighten the load and some splendid illustrations.”
Illustrator Cathy from England's north east said: I’m not into nastiness and gore, and neither is Irene or her book. The information is fascinating, but it doesn’t set out to terrify or sensationalise, and I was happy to bear that in mind when planning the illustrations. You’ll find nothing graphically revolting in here, but plenty to make you wonder at humanity’s inhumanity.
“‘Q for Quicklime’ was problematic, for instance. It’s not the most picturesque stubstance. Looks like lumps of chalk. I drew some in a bucket. It was either that or do something totally grotesque with people being boiled alive in the stuff, which was not the sort of thing I wanted to be drawing or that Irene wanted to see. It wasn’t until weeks later that the idea of ‘Queen’s Pleasure’ was mooted by our editor, an additional section was written, and I was able to draw a stern looking Queen Victoria holding a bunch of keys.
“It’s now almost a year since I started on the project. Every picture has been approved, checked for errors, double-checked, the entire book proof-read an incredible number of times by everyone, pictures checked yet again, emails flown back and forth, adjustments made, and now – finally – it’s finished and I can go back to drawing Connemara ponies and curraghs.
“I’ve had a ball. I started off wondering what I was letting myself in for. I ended up thoroughly satisfied that between us – writer, illustrator, editor and publisher – we’ve produced a highly informative and fully illustrated exploration of the darker side of humanity that would make a most unusual addition to anybody’s Christmas list. Plenty of people are going to receive e-book readers this year as a gift and are going asking what they can read on their shiny new gadget that’s a bit different: The A-Z of Punishment and Torture is the answer.”
So no XXX-rated chamber of horrors, The A-Z of Punishment and Torture, but a careful chronicle, a documentary revelation of what mankind is capable of under the spell of twisted ideas of right and wrong.
And why ‘the strangest thing about today’s new release’ as though all this isn’t strange enough?
Well, there are two other firsts. This is the first time BeWrite Books has published a non-fiction book. And it is also the first time BB, Irene and Cathy have worked on a project intended for publication in ebook form only. It’s a revised, extended, re-illustrated, re-designed and re-covered version of the hardback by The Book Guild, UK (for those old-fashioned folks here who haven’t caught on to e-reading yet the hardback is available from major online stores. ISBN for hardback is 978 1 84624 203 8).
The BeWrite Books ebook edition is available at all major and minor ebook stores in all formats for everything from PC and laptop, through Kindle, Nook, Sony, Kobo et al, to iPod and even smart phones. And, of course, you can buy it direct from the BeWrite Books website on www.bewrite.net or by clicking on the open book item at the top right of this post.
Words by Irene, Illustration by Cathy, edited by Neil Marr, cover art and internal design by Tony Szmuk who also prepared the ebook in PDF, ePub and Mobi digital formats.
Author Irene Thompson’s own blog post about The A-Z of Punishment and Torture is here: http://www.irenethompsonbooks.blogspot.com From the illustrator’s POV, you can read Catherine Edmund’s blog here: http://catherineedmunds.blogspot.com/2010/11/z-illustrators-perspective.html?spref=fb
And the critics are already reacting – the day before release!
This from the renowned Jan Goodwin, author and investigative journalist with a focus on war, conflict and human rights … Man’s Inhumanity to Man (as well as Woman, Child, and even Beast) dates back to the beginning of time, and is limited only by the perpetrator’s depraved imagination. Tragically, as Irene Thompson documents, too many of these primitive tortures are still carried out today. From President Bush justifying waterboarding of prisoners, to the constant mutilating rapes ignored by the UN in the Congo, far too many victims still endure the unimaginable. This is humankind’s shame and a must-read.
Best wishes. Neil Marr
The first three BB blog readers to email me will receive by return a complimentary copy of The A-Z of Punishment and Torture (Illustrated) in the ebook format of their choice. NM
The first three BB blog readers to email me will receive by return a complimentary copy of The A-Z of Punishment and Torture (Illustrated) in the ebook format of their choice. NM
Posts
This book sounds fantastic. And what a great cover! I think it may well be my Xmas present of choice to various friends this year.
ReplyDeleteYet another immediate review in on the A-Z ...
ReplyDeleteThe A-Z of Torture is a fascinating and gripping read. You can almost feel the pain as the instruments of torture through the ages are described in graphic detail. Gruesome but you can’t stop reading it – brilliant!
Phil Dampier, Royal correspondent and best-selling co-author of Duke of Hazard, The Wit and Wisdom of Prince Philip and What’s in the Queen’s Handbag.
And another review: from former international journalist Neil Sutherland ...
ReplyDeleteOne cannot of course judge a virtual book by its cover … it has none. But as a journalistic colleague of Irene for many years I now realize you cannot judge an author on appearances either.
That this detailed catalogue of gruesome grotesquery should be produced by an otherwise sweet English lady leaves me gobsmacked. Every page is a turn of the screw in this wonderfully researched litany of the pain man has inflicted on his fellowman throughout history.
Irene has touched here on a relevant and timely subject. Her impeccably detailed descriptions are painful to read and one is tempted to shrug these off as medieval malpractices. But this book should be made mandatory reading for those who still condone and commit similar atrocities in our modern world, be it the harsh strictures of Sharia or CIA waterboarding interrogation techniques.
I am delighted (if surprised) that this salutary summary of inhumanity has sprung from such an unlikely source. But then … Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition!
Neil Sutherland. Recovering writer now living in Atlanta, Ga.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteANOTHER EARLY REVIEW FOR IRENE THOMPSON'S NEW BOOK ...
ReplyDeleteIn her gripping yet gruesome chronicle of man’s inhumanity to man, Irene Thompson examines not only the brutal mechanics of killing but provides a fascinating insight into ingenious methods devised by the sadistic mind to inflict extreme cruelty.
Some of the instruments detailed in ‘The A-Z of Punishment and Torture’ are so elaborate they are worthy of a PhD in mechanical engineering. Take the awesomely dreadful French invention ‘the pear of anguish’, an engraved metal device composed of four ‘petals’ which the torturer inserted into a bodily orifice and then turned a screw which slowly opened up the 'petals,' ripping apart the cavity. Or the horror of the Iron Maiden, a coffin with spikes which, when closed, impaled and crushed its victim to death in its agonising embrace.
Not for the faint of heart, Thompson’s highly-readable and well-researched book takes us on a horrific odyssey from ancient Greece (where unfortunates were pushed inside a brass replica of a bull and then roasted alive above the flames) to the modern day horrors of simulated drowning practised by CIA interrogators. What this book depicts, above all, is the relish with which torturers go about their grisly task, and the pleasures they derive from finding new ways of creating a veritable Hell on earth.
Tim Miles. Author of Torn Apart: The Most Horrific True Murder Stories You’ll Ever Read.
AND YET ANOTHER RAVE FROM A CRITIC IN THE USA.
ReplyDeleteYou didn’t have to torture me to read this book. I’ve long been fascinated by human ingenuity in inflicting pain and suffering. Irene Thompson has indulged this guilty pleasure beyond my wildest macabre dreams in her opus on the subject. ‘The A – Z of PUNISHMENT and TORTURE’ takes one in dispassionate detail through all the nasty stuff from the ancient world to the present day.
Humour and horror sit side by side i.e. the first gibbets chopped off heads with such vigour that they bounced like balls into the laps of spectators. But to knock the smile off your face consider this: “The Iron Maiden crushed victims in her deadly embrace, impaling them on spikes.”
It’s all there in compelling detail for punishment aficionados – a fascinating compendium of dark deeds; a must read for both sado-masochists and the gruesomely curious like me!
Tony Brenna, author, international journalist and critic. Pacific Press International, Seattle.
And another ...
ReplyDeleteIf you lived in Transylvania you got out of town fast if Vlad the Impaler arrived to add to his monstrous toll of be-staked victims. Ivan the Terrible, who murdered 30,000 Russian women and children he considered disloyal to the Czar, was another reason for a speedy departure.
Irene Thompson details their hideous exploits in her chilling book the ‘A to Z of Punishment and Torture’. In dispassionate but riveting tones her splendid writing makes the contents even more chilling as she covers the horrors of modern and ancient times.
This compendium of terror offers such a gruesome but enjoyable journey through the history of pain and punishment it's hard to put down. It also provides a wealth of rich and ribald folklore to leaven the mix. I heartily recommend it.
Elena M. Rodriguez, biographer & author of international corporate histories
And a Review from Kay Green at EarlyWords Press in the UK
ReplyDelete“Punishment and Torture” – the perfect title for this book because it’s an area of knowledge I have absolutely no desire to pursue but the world being what it is, I often have to do so, when editing both fiction and non-fiction. It’s also a book that’s been released only as an e-book so I am finally cornered into investigating the format – as one who is never happier than when wandering the papery heaven of an old fashioned library, that’s the second reason the title’s appropriate, to my eye at least.
Why am I reviewing this book? Well obviously because it IS a subject both writers and editors could do with a practical reference book on, because one regularly hears good things about BeWrite Books so should pay attention to review copies when they’re offered, and, to declare a personal interest, because the book is illustrated by Catherine Edmunds, who has been a mainstay of Earlyworks Press in her guises as writer, illustrator and fearless internet explorer for most of the time we’ve been online.
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continued from previous post ...
ReplyDeleteSo here’s a harsh test: how did the book stand up to the negative feelings of this reluctant reviewer? First, the e-bookness. Well I have to say it’s clean, it’s accessible, it’s good-looking and economical and it makes a valuable contribution to my reference information without taking up any room whatsoever in my study. The reluctant side of me will have to make do with muttering about how I won’t be able to use it during power-cuts, but even then I’ll be shouted off stage by i-pad and mob users who will tell me a desktop computer isn’t the only place a resourceful person can store e-books.
That’s the e-angle dealt with. Now for the book bit…. well actually, I started out still making comparisons – the vertiginous experience of scrolling down the deep picture of the guillotine seen through a high gateway and the impossibility of having a casual flick through before starting to read made embarking on this book more like entering a cinema than settling down to read, but my interest was caught.
The introduction finally got me into book-reading mode and it is very interesting. Why didn’t I know that the expression ‘Draconian’ comes from Draco, a Greek law maker who made short work of penal policy by making all crimes punishable by death? The remaining pages of the introduction take us on a roller coaster ride through Roman emperors, Spanish Inquisitors and Victorian transportations to the (now far off) day in 1984 when the UN declared torture illegal. That’s the end of all the stomach-churning stuff then, isn’t it…. Ha!
The book proved a very entertaining and informative read. It does a lot of myth-busting – much of which is obvious when you think about it – why would those far-off cannibal tribes decide to boil missionaries alive? And even if they wanted to do something so pointless (boiling dinner alive involves contaminating good meat with the contents of the dinner’s stomach) where on earth would they get such a large iron pot from? … along with some points which need regular flagging up – such as the fact that nine out of ten members of a decimated army survive to tell the tale
There are also a lot of surprises in the where and when of certain punishments or theories of crime: recent crucifixions, for example. “Ireland, 1996, for shoplifting” is not the answer that would have sprung to my mind; and ideas which definitely carry a far-off or third world feel such as infecting and scalping turn out to have been more popular with Europeans, or in some cases, more or less non-existent until modern societies decided to give them a try.
The ‘alphabet of’ format seems somewhat frivolous but is as good as any and towards the end, brings us right up to date with ‘Camp X Ray’ and Guantanamo Bay. Z, in case you are wondering, is for ‘Zero Tolerance’ and, having been brought up short by the details of what are apparently quite usual punishments, I shall leave you to find out what is in the text of ‘U – Unusual Punishments.’
Yup, this is a cruel and unusual book, made all the more enjoyable by Catherine Edmunds’ illustrations, all of which cleverly fire the imagination without actually depicting anything that will ruin your dinner. Highly recommended.
continued in next comment post (character restriction 4,000) ...
ReplyDeleteSo here’s a harsh test: how did the book stand up to the negative feelings of this reluctant reviewer? First, the e-bookness. Well I have to say it’s clean, it’s accessible, it’s good-looking and economical and it makes a valuable contribution to my reference information without taking up any room whatsoever in my study. The reluctant side of me will have to make do with muttering about how I won’t be able to use it during power-cuts, but even then I’ll be shouted off stage by i-pad and mob users who will tell me a desktop computer isn’t the only place a resourceful person can store e-books.
That’s the e-angle dealt with. Now for the book bit…. well actually, I started out still making comparisons – the vertiginous experience of scrolling down the deep picture of the guillotine seen through a high gateway and the impossibility of having a casual flick through before starting to read made embarking on this book more like entering a cinema than settling down to read, but my interest was caught.
The introduction finally got me into book-reading mode and it is very interesting. Why didn’t I know that the expression ‘Draconian’ comes from Draco, a Greek law maker who made short work of penal policy by making all crimes punishable by death? The remaining pages of the introduction take us on a roller coaster ride through Roman emperors, Spanish Inquisitors and Victorian transportations to the (now far off) day in 1984 when the UN declared torture illegal. That’s the end of all the stomach-churning stuff then, isn’t it…. Ha!
The book proved a very entertaining and informative read. It does a lot of myth-busting – much of which is obvious when you think about it – why would those far-off cannibal tribes decide to boil missionaries alive? And even if they wanted to do something so pointless (boiling dinner alive involves contaminating good meat with the contents of the dinner’s stomach) where on earth would they get such a large iron pot from? … along with some points which need regular flagging up – such as the fact that nine out of ten members of a decimated army survive to tell the tale.
continued from previous post (comment restriction 4,000 characters) ...
ReplyDeleteSo here’s a harsh test: how did the book stand up to the negative feelings of this reluctant reviewer? First, the e-bookness. Well I have to say it’s clean, it’s accessible, it’s good-looking and economical and it makes a valuable contribution to my reference information without taking up any room whatsoever in my study. The reluctant side of me will have to make do with muttering about how I won’t be able to use it during power-cuts, but even then I’ll be shouted off stage by i-pad and mob users who will tell me a desktop computer isn’t the only place a resourceful person can store e-books.
That’s the e-angle dealt with. Now for the book bit…. well actually, I started out still making comparisons – the vertiginous experience of scrolling down the deep picture of the guillotine seen through a high gateway and the impossibility of having a casual flick through before starting to read made embarking on this book more like entering a cinema than settling down to read, but my interest was caught.
The introduction finally got me into book-reading mode and it is very interesting. Why didn’t I know that the expression ‘Draconian’ comes from Draco, a Greek law maker who made short work of penal policy by making all crimes punishable by death? The remaining pages of the introduction take us on a roller coaster ride through Roman emperors, Spanish Inquisitors and Victorian transportations to the (now far off) day in 1984 when the UN declared torture illegal. That’s the end of all the stomach-churning stuff then, isn’t it…. Ha!
/continued in next comment ...
continued ...
ReplyDeleteSo here’s a harsh test: how did the book stand up to the negative feelings of this reluctant reviewer? First, the e-bookness. Well I have to say it’s clean, it’s accessible, it’s good-looking and economical and it makes a valuable contribution to my reference information without taking up any room whatsoever in my study. The reluctant side of me will have to make do with muttering about how I won’t be able to use it during power-cuts, but even then I’ll be shouted off stage by i-pad and mob users who will tell me a desktop computer isn’t the only place a resourceful person can store e-books.
That’s the e-angle dealt with. Now for the book bit…. well actually, I started out still making comparisons – the vertiginous experience of scrolling down the deep picture of the guillotine seen through a high gateway and the impossibility of having a casual flick through before starting to read made embarking on this book more like entering a cinema than settling down to read, but my interest was caught.
/continued in next post (comment limit 4,000 characters) ...
continued ...
ReplyDeleteThe introduction finally got me into book-reading mode and it is very interesting. Why didn’t I know that the expression ‘Draconian’ comes from Draco, a Greek law maker who made short work of penal policy by making all crimes punishable by death? The remaining pages of the introduction take us on a roller coaster ride through Roman emperors, Spanish Inquisitors and Victorian transportations to the (now far off) day in 1984 when the UN declared torture illegal. That’s the end of all the stomach-churning stuff then, isn’t it…. Ha!
The book proved a very entertaining and informative read. It does a lot of myth-busting – much of which is obvious when you think about it – why would those far-off cannibal tribes decide to boil missionaries alive? And even if they wanted to do something so pointless (boiling dinner alive involves contaminating good meat with the contents of the dinner’s stomach) where on earth would they get such a large iron pot from? … along with some points which need regular flagging up – such as the fact that nine out of ten members of a decimated army survive to tell the tale
There are also a lot of surprises in the where and when of certain punishments or theories of crime: recent crucifixions, for example. “Ireland, 1996, for shoplifting” is not the answer that would have sprung to my mind; and ideas which definitely carry a far-off or third world feel such as infecting and scalping turn out to have been more popular with Europeans, or in some cases, more or less non-existent until modern societies decided to give them a try.
The ‘alphabet of’ format seems somewhat frivolous but is as good as any and towards the end, brings us right up to date with ‘Camp X Ray’ and Guantanamo Bay. Z, in case you are wondering, is for ‘Zero Tolerance’ and, having been brought up short by the details of what are apparently quite usual punishments, I shall leave you to find out what is in the text of ‘U – Unusual Punishments.’
Yup, this is a cruel and unusual book, made all the more enjoyable by Catherine Edmunds’ illustrations, all of which cleverly fire the imagination without actually depicting anything that will ruin your dinner. Highly recommended.
continued ...
ReplyDeleteThe introduction finally got me into book-reading mode and it is very interesting. Why didn’t I know that the expression ‘Draconian’ comes from Draco, a Greek law maker who made short work of penal policy by making all crimes punishable by death? The remaining pages of the introduction take us on a roller coaster ride through Roman emperors, Spanish Inquisitors and Victorian transportations to the (now far off) day in 1984 when the UN declared torture illegal. That’s the end of all the stomach-churning stuff then, isn’t it…. Ha!
The book proved a very entertaining and informative read. It does a lot of myth-busting – much of which is obvious when you think about it – why would those far-off cannibal tribes decide to boil missionaries alive? And even if they wanted to do something so pointless (boiling dinner alive involves contaminating good meat with the contents of the dinner’s stomach) where on earth would they get such a large iron pot from? … along with some points which need regular flagging up – such as the fact that nine out of ten members of a decimated army survive to tell the tale
There are also a lot of surprises in the where and when of certain punishments or theories of crime: recent crucifixions, for example. “Ireland, 1996, for shoplifting” is not the answer that would have sprung to my mind; and ideas which definitely carry a far-off or third world feel such as infecting and scalping turn out to have been more popular with Europeans, or in some cases, more or less non-existent until modern societies decided to give them a try.
/continued in next comment ...
Conclusion to Kay Green review ...
ReplyDeleteThe ‘alphabet of’ format seems somewhat frivolous but is as good as any and towards the end, brings us right up to date with ‘Camp X Ray’ and Guantanamo Bay. Z, in case you are wondering, is for ‘Zero Tolerance’ and, having been brought up short by the details of what are apparently quite usual punishments, I shall leave you to find out what is in the text of ‘U – Unusual Punishments.’
Yup, this is a cruel and unusual book, made all the more enjoyable by Catherine Edmunds’ illustrations, all of which cleverly fire the imagination without actually depicting anything that will ruin your dinner. Highly recommended.
Kay Green. EarlyWorks Press. UK
And the positive reviews are still coming in. This from November 23:
ReplyDeleteThe A-Z concept used in this book enables the author to present a challenging subject in palatable pieces. She never dwells on the unsavoury for any longer than it takes to detail it with the crisp detachment of a professional journalist. This book is both entertaining and informative, occasionally shocking, but always interesting. A good read.
Andrew Morton, author of Diana: Her True Story.
I really do wish reviewers would post their thoughts elsewhere so that I could link them. Having to copy and paste this way makes it look like I'm manipulating the review system. Actually all I'm doing is passing on other people's words. I'd much rather link to independent sites. C'est la vie. Neil
ReplyDelete