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  • Agent of Death: The Memoirs of an Executioner
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Agent of Death: The Memoirs of an Executioner Kindle Edition

by Robert Greene Elliott (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 out of 5 stars 34 ratings
4.3 on Goodreads
22 ratings

鶹

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Agent of Death, The Memoirs of an Executioner was originally published in 1940. Decades later, this rare autobiography has been digitized and re-published. It provides an intimate prospective into unique man and his profession.

Robert Greene Elliott acted as state executioner for the States of New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Connecticut during 1926 - 1939. He is often credited with perfecting the use of electrocution as a form of capital punishment and during his career he executed 387 condemned persons including Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Ruth Snyder and Henry Judd Gray, and Bruno Hauptman - all of who represent some of the most famous criminal cases in the United States during the early 20th century.

Although Robert Greene Elliott was an executioner by profession, he was not a proponent of capital punishment. His views were progressive especially when capital punishment was prevalent and widely accepted. He believed capital punishment did not deter crime and that prevention was more important.
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  1. Print length
    231 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Accessibility
    Learn more
  4. Publication date
    Sept. 5 2022
  5. File size
    562 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BD93PNS1
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ Sept. 5 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 562 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 231 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8847967426
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • 鶹 Rank: #475,873 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 34 ratings

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4.5 out of 5 stars
34 global ratings

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  • J. Ramirez
    5.0 out of 5 stars Quite impressive
    Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    These are the memories of a very active executioner in the USA. In the book he recounts his experiences in killing people in the name of the law.
    Although he doesn’t go into the most gruesome details of his business, it’s obvious that his work wasn’t desirable at all
    Good to notice that he thought that capital punishment seldom is a deterrent for crime and that it has errors. I wanted to read this book from long ago, and I found it an note resting -and disturbing- reading
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  • A. Castree
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Good all round view of the death penalty and the emotions and motives of an executioner. Well worth the read.
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  • Debbie
    3.0 out of 5 stars A book long out of print now available, but with some problems
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    The original printing of Agent of Death was over 80 years ago, and the only copies of it are available at very high prices (some over $1000) or are available only in the rare books sections of university libraries. This printing was apparently created by someone scanning the original book with text recognition software and then not doing a great job of editing it. In the first chapter alone, there are numerous misspelled words, grammatical errors, and missing words, which makes it a little more difficult to read. Nonetheless, it is an irreplaceable historical account by a man who executed almost 400 people, not a book with mass appeal, but for those interested in the subject, a gripping volume. So, I give thanks to those who took advantage of the copyright being expired and printed this, and I hope they sell enough to make it worth the effort...I just wish they'd paid a little more attention to detail.
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  • Lee Erickson
    4.0 out of 5 stars Useful
    Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    This was a useful look into the mind of, and the processes employed by, a prolific executioner during the early use of the electric chair in the populous northeast states.
    I found especially useful the conclusions drawn by the man who ended the lives of almost 400 men and women by state sanction.
    Glad I read it.
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  • Frank Schultz
    1.0 out of 5 stars Not what you might expect
    Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    As of this writing, I'm only half-way through the book - but can already say that it is one of the most fascinating reads I've encountered over decades!

    The book provides insights into the culture of the times and the attitudes of people and society in pre- and post-turn of the 20th century. The primary qualification to be an executioner/electrocutioner was to first be an Electrician (one skilled in the arts and practice of electricity) - and the executioner was generally referred-to as such. In those times, electrical power was a new development and very few had much knowledge of it.

    Elliott went into some detail about his personal life and the precautions he had to go through to avoid public recognition - eventually, to no avail (his house was dynamited one night with he and his family in it). Unexpectedly, he spent some time with at least some of the doomed to reassure and calm them. He was most interested in their spiritual condition.

    As an electrical-type, I am very interested in the electrical arrangements, which by today's standards, were crude and Rube Goldberg-ish. In at least one prison, Elliott had to change-out the standard generator armature and install a high-Voltage one for the execution, then reverse the process after the event. In the same prison, he also had to string 700 feet of temporary wiring from the power plant to the death house via the hallways of the prison. Guards had to be stationed along the way to see that the prisoners didn't cut the wires. He also went into the procedures employed by different prisons.

    Yes, he went into some detail on the physiological effects upon the occupants of the chair. Surprising to me was the amount of current applied – up to 15 Amperes(!) – (sometimes resulting in spectacular performances by the occupants) – and how the cycling of current developed over the time covered to induce faster death with hopefully less smoke and stench – and cooler corpses. Equally surprising was that AC power was used rather than DC, as DC has been shown to be typically lethal at lower currents. I just recently discovered that AC was used because of a business war between Edison (DC) and Westinghouse (AC). Edison designed and sold systems with used Westinghouse generators, as he didn't want DC to be associated with death - bad for business.

    Electrocutioners in those days had to be resourceful and possess multiple talents, from electrician, to mechanic, to designer, to fabricator... They had to design and build their own electrodes and hood, and carry them with them to the job – no ordering from 鶹!

    There is very, very much more than can be covered here. In this writer's opinion, the book is a marvelous, spell-binding, first-hand and very personal account of a man in a rare profession in long-forgotten times; very well worth a Five-Star rating. Includes facility photographs and reproductions of official notifications of, and summonses to, executions. The only very minor disappointment I had was that there are no electrical schematics of the generator controls.

    I'll have post-partum depression after finishing the book.
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