Capital Punishment in East Asia

Capital Punishment in East Asia is an international collaborative project that provides a comprehensive account of the death penalty in East Asia from the ancient era until today. The book is divided into three parts - 'Crime and Punishment,' 'Society and Capital Punishment,' and 'From a Standpoint Outside Chinese Culture' - and is based on a variety of legal disciplines - legal philosophy, legal sociology, and law history. It explores cases in Japan, China, India, Nepal (as well as the Netherlands, Sweden, and Britain) in a scholarly and empirical discussion on the legal consciousness of crime and punishment in comparative historical perspectives, and it makes a deep contribution to contemporary affairs. *** "The essays have already stimulated a follow-up research project on ritual and punishment that one hopes will yield a future volume. The present book will be welcomed by and required reading for specialists and can be mined by participants in current debates about the death penalty. Recommended." - Choice, Vol. 50, No. 04, December 2012.