This is an interesting, well researched and well constructed history of the evolution of murder, in the legal sense.
The book is split into several sections, which deal with different ‘types’ of killing and defences used. It is jam packed with real-life case examples and, despite its macabre subject material, the book makes fascinating reading.
We start out with duels between ‘honourable’ gentleman and journey through time as the law grows and changes to differentiate between different types of killing and defences - murder, and manslaughter get defined in the legal sense; insanity becomes admissible as a defence. We look at different types of killers and see how individual cases have shaped the law we have today, and how legal definitions written and decisions made centuries ago still influence courts in the modern day.
If you have an interest in legal history, or like a bit of true life crime, then this book is definitely worth a read.
The book is split into several sections, which deal with different ‘types’ of killing and defences used. It is jam packed with real-life case examples and, despite its macabre subject material, the book makes fascinating reading.
We start out with duels between ‘honourable’ gentleman and journey through time as the law grows and changes to differentiate between different types of killing and defences - murder, and manslaughter get defined in the legal sense; insanity becomes admissible as a defence. We look at different types of killers and see how individual cases have shaped the law we have today, and how legal definitions written and decisions made centuries ago still influence courts in the modern day.
If you have an interest in legal history, or like a bit of true life crime, then this book is definitely worth a read.