Book description
The name Spencer Perceval is not as well known as Abraham Lincoln
or John F Kennedy, but he is the only British prime minister to have
been assassinated in the almost 300 years that the office has existed.
When Perceval arrived at the House of Commons on 11 May 1812, John
Bellingham, a successful entrepreneur, shot him in the chest at
point-blank range. Within a few minutes he was dead. Bellingham was
immediately arrested and put on trial two days later: refusing to
plead insanity, he was convicted and hanged before the week was out.
In a story of suspense, revenge and personal tragedy, David C Hanrahan
tells the interwoven stories of Perceval and Bellingham, detailing not
just the events of May 1812, but also the two men's histories, and
what led one to take the other's life.
David C Hanrahan is the author of Colonel Blood: The Man Who
Stole the Crown Jewels and Charles II and the Duke of Buckingham: the
Merry Monarch and the Aristocratic Rogue. He has also written for BBC
History Magazine and worked as an historical consultant for the
television programme Days that Shook the World.
