In this work the distinguished criminal law expert, Dr. Alexander S. Mikhlin, investigates the history of the application of the death penalty in Russia, during the pre-Revolutionary and in Soviet and post-Soviet periods. He examines the application of the death penalty and the renunciation of its application in foreign countries and then presents an analysis of criminal and criminal-executory legislation in force in Russia and the practice of its application. Special consideration is given in the book to sociological studies in Russia of the personality of persons sentenced to the death penalty.

At the end of the work the results of the research are summarized, arguments for and against abolition of the death penalty considered, proposals made for further limitation of its application, and a conclusion drawn concerning the prospects for the complete renunciation of the application of the exceptional measure of punishment in Russia.

The work is intended for scholars, students, postgraduates, and law school teachers and those who work in agencies which execute punishments, the procuracy, courts and Ministry of Justice, and also for the general reader who has an interest in the issue of the death penalty.