I've been reading Pierrepoint - A Family of Executioners, by Steve Fielding. This book traces the career of Albert Pierrepoint, "the most prolific and efficient hangman this country has ever known", as well as those of his father and his uncle – who were both hangmen before him.Albert Pierrepoint carried out a number of executions in Germany in the years immediately following the Second World War, and on several occasions was assisted by a certain Edwin James Roper.
Ed Roper – what an appropriate name for a hangman! A clear example of nominative determinism...
