This is the first fully comprehensive biography on the hangman James Billington, a former pub entertainer and barber who secured the post of executioner for London and the Home Counties. The reader is introduced to the real Billington, illuminating the dark side of a man who held the mandate to kill. Three of his sons followed in his footsteps and together the family were responsible for 218 executions in Great Britain between 1884 and 1905. The stories behind all of Billington's executions are also included.