Boot (torture)

The term boot refers to a family of instruments of torture and interrogation variously designed to cause crushing injuries to the foot and/or leg.

A similar device, commonly referred to as a shin crusher, squeezed the calf between two curved iron plates, studded with spikes, teeth, and knobs, to fracture the tibia and fibula.

The first Scottish effort, also referred to as a buskin, made use of a vaguely boot-shaped rawhide garment that was soaked with water, drawn over the foot and lower leg, and bound in place with cords.

A more progressive variant, found in both the British Isles and France, consisted of a trio of upright wooden boards that splinted around and between the feet, fundamentally identical to the Chinese foot torture known as Jiagun, and were tied in place by cords.

[4] A prototype hailing from Autun, France, consisted of high boots of spongy, porous leather that were drawn over the feet and legs.

Lastly, oversized boots of iron or copper (often soldered in place on the floor) received the prisoner's bare feet as he lay helplessly bound and gagged in a chair.

[citation needed] In The Big Book of Pain,[5] Donnelly and Diehl present an ingenious and diabolical iron torture boot.