Kill the Queen!
The Eight Assassination Attempts on Queen Victoria
Nonfiction, History, Modern, 19th Century
| Author: | Barrie Charles | ISBN: | 9781445612676 |
| Publisher: | Amberley Publishing | Publication: | May 15, 2012 |
| Imprint: | Amberley Publishing | Language: | English |
| Author: | Barrie Charles |
| ISBN: | 9781445612676 |
| Publisher: | Amberley Publishing |
| Publication: | May 15, 2012 |
| Imprint: | Amberley Publishing |
| Language: | English |
Queen Victoria was our longest reigning monarch, a symbol of Britain's great age of power and imperialism. But her life could so easily have been cut short. Just three years after she ascended to the throne, a humble 'pot-boy' fired a brace of pistols at her from just six paces away. She escaped unharmed, but amazingly there were seven further attacks or attempts on her life over the next forty-seven years. The perpetrators were a mixture of madmen, attention-seekers, and fiends: the unemployed carpenter who ended up transported to the hell of a labour camp in Van Dieman's Land; the midget newsvendor who eventually took his own life; the army officer who dressed as a dandy; the disaffected artist, and the Fenian terrorists. Through it all there is Victoria; how she coped with the fear and became a symbol of resolve and determination. Each chapter of this book captures the drama of the attack and uncovers the would-be assassin's motives, describing their lives up to that point, their trial and sentence, and what became of them afterwards. Extensive original research in England and Australia has uncovered a mass of new and previously unpublished detail that makes for an absorbing read.
Queen Victoria was our longest reigning monarch, a symbol of Britain's great age of power and imperialism. But her life could so easily have been cut short. Just three years after she ascended to the throne, a humble 'pot-boy' fired a brace of pistols at her from just six paces away. She escaped unharmed, but amazingly there were seven further attacks or attempts on her life over the next forty-seven years. The perpetrators were a mixture of madmen, attention-seekers, and fiends: the unemployed carpenter who ended up transported to the hell of a labour camp in Van Dieman's Land; the midget newsvendor who eventually took his own life; the army officer who dressed as a dandy; the disaffected artist, and the Fenian terrorists. Through it all there is Victoria; how she coped with the fear and became a symbol of resolve and determination. Each chapter of this book captures the drama of the attack and uncovers the would-be assassin's motives, describing their lives up to that point, their trial and sentence, and what became of them afterwards. Extensive original research in England and Australia has uncovered a mass of new and previously unpublished detail that makes for an absorbing read.
