A breathtaking history of Britain's executionersfrom the seventeenth court of King Charles II to the UK's last official hangman of the twentieth century. In 1663, Jack Ketch delighted in his profession and gained notoriety not only because of those he executeddukes and lordsbut for how often he botched the job. Centuries later, in 1965, after nearly six hundred trips to the gallows, Albert Pierre...