EXECUTIONER’S CURRENT(ISBN=) 英文原版

　　In this amazing story of high stakes competition between two
titans, Richard Moran shows how the electric chair developed not
out of the desire to be more humane but through an effort by one
nineteenth-century electric company to discredit the other.
　　In 1882, Thomas Edison ushered in the “age of electricity” when
he illuminated Manhattan’s Pearl Street with his direct current
(DC) system. Six years later, George Westinghouse lit up Buffalo
with his less expensive alternating current (AC). The two men
quickly became locked in a fierce rivalry, made all the more
complicated by a novel new application for their product: the
electric chair. When Edison set out to persuade the state of New
York to use Westinghouse’s current to execute condemned criminals,
Westinghouse fought back in court, attempting to stop the first
electrocution and keep AC from becoming the “executioner’s
current.” In this meticulously researched account of the ensuing
legal battle and the horribly botched first execution, Moran raises
disturbing questions not only about electrocution, but about about
our society’s tendency to rely on new technologies to answer moral
questions.

　　Richard Moran is professor of sociology at Mount Holyoke
College and the author of Knowing Right from Wrong: The Insanity
Defense of Daniel McNaughtan and numerous articles and reviews.
He has also served as a commentator for National Public Radio’s
Morning Edition and written op-eds for the Boston Globe,
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago
Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Newsweek,
and The Wall Street Journal. He lives in South Hadley,
Massachusetts.

　　?Fascinating and provocative. . . . Moran skillfully used the
story of the creation of the electric chair to illustrate the
brutal clash between Edison and Westinghouse.? ?Washington Post
Book World
　　?Fascinating. . . . Moran conclusively shows that Edison hoped to
discredit alternating current–by associating it in the public mind
with death–and advance his own direct current.” ?Los Angeles
Times
　　”Chilling. . . . A ‘Coke-versus-Pepsi’ story as if told by
Stephen King. . . . A macabre jolt of history.” ?Chicago
Sun-Times
　　?A remarkable account. . . . A fantastic tale, well told.?
?Forbes
　　?[An] engaging analysis of the relationship between electrocution
and the personal and corporate battles waged between Edison and
Westinghouse.? ?Louis P. Masur, Chicago Tribune
　　?Richard Moran shows us not only how the death penalty in America
affects condemned prisoners, but also how it is used by powerful
interests in our society to further their own political and
economic ends. . . . Five stars, and three cheers, for Professor
Moran!? ?Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking
　　?Riveting. . . . Moran [has a] lively reportorial style. . . . In
this narrative of callous ambition and hypocrisy, a condemned
criminal plays an unexpectedly dignified role.? ?Seattle
Weekly
　　”Compelling. . . . Reads like pages torn from today’s headlines
about nefarious CEOs and corporate greed.” ?Albany Times
Union
　　?Haunting?. Incisive? A chilling look at something that has
become a too-common theme of modern times: the use of technology to
develop new ways of killing.? ?Roanoke Times
　　?An eye-opening and riveting account of the battle for the future
of electricity and the part that played in changing the technology
of execution.? ?Wilmington Sunday News Journal — Review