Author: Jim Main

The last judicial execution in Australia was in 1967 when Ronald Ryan was hanged in Melbourne. Ryan was the last of hundreds who all paid the supreme penalty. This book covers dozens of the most sensational and controversial of Australia's executions, all by hanging.

There are crimes of murder, rape and even sheep stealing, and those who committed these crimes. There are also the victims, the trials and in some cases the post-mortems, of victims and of those hanged. Most importantly for this book, there are the executions themselves. Some went according to plan, but some were gruesome in the extreme and in many instances here, are covered in detail.

This is a book for all those who enjoy reading about true crime, but be warned: DO NOT READ ALONE AND/OR AT NIGHT.

JIM MAIN is one of Australia’s most respected journalists. He studied law at the University of Melbourne, but preferred to pursue a career as a writer. He worked on the Melbourne Herald before spending almost two years on Fleet Street with the Daily Express. Author of more than 50 books, he is a winner of the Sir William Walkley Award (Australian journalism’s most prestigious award) and, while in London, a Lord Beaverbrook Award.