A fascinating insight into the crimes of women, and how their executions took place

Tracing the history of female crime and execution from 1726 to 1955, Women and the Noose presents the cases of over fifty women who met their end on the hangman’s gallows. From the criminal act to the execution day itself, the women’s stories illustrate the range of crimes punishable by execution such as petty theft and murder, as well as reactions to the death sentence, including ‘pleading the belly’ as a defence. Richard Clark also discusses the developments in execution methods, from burning at the stake to the short-and long-drop; and the move from the very public hangings to the more dignified private events. Clark’s frank treatment of the executions combined with sympathetic revelations about the women’s private lives makes Women and the Noose a chilling and surprisingly moving read.

From Sarah Malcolm, sentenced to be executed for multiple murders in the early eighteenth century, to Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955, Women and the Noose traces the history of female crime through the cases of seventy women who met their end on the hangman’s gallows.

In this detailed account, each woman’s story is revealed: her background, criminal acts and execution. Through their tales, historian Richard Clark highlights the wide range of crimes once punishable by death, from cold-blooded murder and crimes of passion to burglary and petty theft. He also shows how, as time went on, execution methods evolved, from burning at the stake to death by hanging, and how the public came to prefer a more humane, private death over the cruel, public scenes of earlier periods.

Clark’s frank treatment of events, combined with sympathetic revelations about the women’s private lives, makes this revised and updated edition of Women and the Noose a chilling and surprisingly moving read.