The first true textbook on the death penalty, this text provides an exhaustive introduction, starting with its history and taking the reader through the facts, issues, opinions and controversies surrounding capital punishment. The author's motivation has been to understand what motivates the "deathquest" of the American people, leading a large percentage of the public to support the death penalty. The book will educate readers so that whatever their death penalty opinions are, they are informed ones. Discussion questions accompany each chapter. Appendix contains ABA guidelines for appointment and performance of defense counsel in death penalty cases.