“Christianson makes a chilling argument for its [the gas chamber’s]—and the death penalty’s—abolition.”
“This sobering work is recommended to all readers interested in exploring the topic.”
“First full-scale history of gas chamber connects murky (and sure-to-be controversial) dots, including Hitler’s adoption of American technology and joint American-German research and development.”
“Christianson has written the definitive (actually, the only) history of the gas chamber. It is a history so complicated and convoluted that it reads almost like something out of Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow.”
Copyright
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2010 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Christianson, Scott.
The last gasp : the rise and fall of the American gas chamber / Scott Christianson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-25562-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Gas chambers—United States—History. 2. Capital punishment—United States—History—20th century. I. Title.
HV8699.U5C415 2010
364.66—dc22
2009052476
Manufactured in the United States of America
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This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber.
FSC recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by BioGas energy.
Text: 10/13 Sabon
Display: Sabon, Franklin Gothic
Compositor: BookMatters, Berkeley
Printer and binder: Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group