Solomon's Noose: The True Story of Her Majesty's Hangman of Hobart Town

Description

The story of a young convict, Solomon Blay, who became Her Majesty's hangman in Van Diemen's Land; the man who personally had to deliver an Empire's judgement on 200 men and women, and endured his own noose of personal demons and demonisation in order to "survive"; all in the context of the great struggles of good-evil, life-death, hope-despair, which drew the attention of Darwin, Twain, Trollope and Dickens as Van Diemen's Land evolved from a Hades of Evil to sow the seeds of nationhood. The book paints a vivid picture of the society and poverty from which Blay's character was forged in England and the desperate, brutal nature of being a convict in Van Diemen's Land. Solomon's Noose is an important book in exposing the dark 'underbelly' in the formation of modern Australia. From the furthest corner of that foreign country, the past, comes the haunting story of the convict who became the British Empire's youngest executioner. Beware the shock of the true. - Andrew Rule, award-winning journalist and author. Impressive research and a story that challenges the imagination - except that it's true. A prisoner elects to become a hangman - to improve his lot in life. All this set against the Gothic world of Van Diemen's Land in the time of convicts, bushrangers and rough justice. - Les Carlyon, bestselling author of Gallipoli and The Great War.

Steve Harris, a Tasmanian, has 30 years experience in journalism, print and online publishing, and high-performance organisations. He is the only person to have been editorial head of both of Melbourne's major media groups- Editor-in-Chief of the Herald and Weekly Times Group and Editor-in-Chief of The Age

"From the furthest corner of that foreign country, the past, comes the haunting story of the convict who became the British Empires youngest executioner. Beware the shock of the true." Andrew Rule, award-winning journalist and author "Impressive research and a story that challenges the imagi-nation except that its true. A prisoner elects to become a hangman to improve his lot in life. All this set against the Gothic world of Van Diemens Land in the time of con-victs, bushrangers and rough justice." Les Carlyon, best-selling author of Gallipoli and The Great War