[chesley]

I’m guessing “long-drop” means broken neck, instant unconsciousness, swift death. Is that right?

That's the way it's supposed to work, but it can also mean decapitation a la Tom "Black Jack" Ketchum in 1901.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KetchumDecapitated.jpg

There's also: suspension, short drop which kill by strangulation, and the standard drop (which was used to execute the Nazi war criminals by the US Army)

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

There is also ‘measured drop’ developed by English hangman Thomas Marwood in the 1800s, which customised the drop according to age, height and build, used in Britain until 1964. Singapore and a couple of other former British colonies still use this method using the old 1911 Home Office league table of drops...