The words from The Economist say it all -- how did we ever live without this book? It is an invaluable resource for introducing oneself to major movements, ideas, and people in modern thought. Having studied Postmodern British Literature as an undergrad, I can say the description of Derrida's Deconstruction movement is a better summarization than anything I have read -- and I think this is true for the book as a whole. It is inclusive without being cluttered, and incredibly informative yet readable.

This book is not for the weak of heart. The author puts his biases aside and just clearly explains what goes on in this part of the American criminal justice system. He takes you through the equipment used and the manufactures of the equipment. He looks over the legal framework for the convicted man / woman. The process of actually testing and performing the sentence. He also spends some time talking to people that are for and against the method of punishment. All in all this is a very interesting and well-done book that tells the reader everything they would want to know about this process. If you are interested in law enforcement, the BoP or criminal law then I would suggest finding a copy of this book.

An excellent look inside the death penalty system including the creator of the lethal injection machine and interviews with death row inmates. It's informative and tries to remain detached (tough in places), but is a very worthwile and honest look into the engine that drives the system.

After reading this, you can't be in any doubt that the Death Penalty, no matter how it is carried out, is a "cruel and unusual punishment". Lots of history, as well as interviews with prisoners (many of whom have since been excecuted) make this a well-rounded read. I just hope that this book's reach goes beyond the converted.

The edition which I have, from 1977, copyright by Alan Bullock and Oliver Stallybrass, was originally published in England under the title The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought. I bought it because sometimes it might be better than the encyclopedia which was a family purchase when my children were in elementary school. The point may be that the knowledge which it presents attempts to limit itself to those things which experts in a field might agree with, instead of the kind of sweeping generalizations which the modern media have made the standard of pseudo-intellectual views commonly available to the point of intellectual asphyxiation. This book does not express an opinion directly on psychotic multiplicity, but there is an entry written by D. J. Enright, a poet, novelist, critic, editor, and publisher on "dissociation of sensibility" as the concept was used by T. S. Eliot in an essay, "The Metaphysical Poets." (1921) It applied to examples from Donne and Milton in which thinking and feeling were split, but success in this realm of thought is now deemed not to be "as precise in its effects as a lobotomy. The truth is that dissociation of sensibility has always been with us, and that unification of sensibility is a rare phenomenon, not always possible and perhaps not always called for." (p. 177) Don't expect this work to be a best-seller. This kind of thing is necessary only for those who need to know such wisdom as it contains.