Dive into the macabre history of England and Old Europe in this compendium of historical punishments. Throughout the pages of Medieval and Early Modern Punishments, English author and historian William Andrews runs the reader through a veritable gauntlet of nefarious devices and practices. From the relatively tame stocks to the horrors of the rack and other such instruments, Andrews recounts all the sordid and grisly details. Although sure to satisfy the reader's morbid curiosity, Medieval and Early Modern Punishments is not limited to its shock value, but is also an enlightening study of how societies have discouraged crime and maintained order. While most of the practices described in this book have thankfully gone out of fashion, Medieval and Early Modern Punishments invites the reader to consider the various instruments of more subtle means of social control that have taken their place.