Solomon's Noose

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 judgment on 200 men and women, and endured his own noose of personal demons and demonisation in order to &quot;survive&quot;; 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. <br /> <br /><i>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. </i><br />– Andrew Rule, award-winning journalist and author. <br /> <br /><i>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. </i><br />– Les Carlyon, bestselling author of <i>Gallipoli </i>and <i>The Great War</i>.