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    Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy
    Unavailable
    Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy
    Unavailable
    Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy
    Ebook871 pages16 hours

    Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy

    By Paul Thomas Murphy

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “A fresh, lively ” perspective on Victorian England, as seen through the eight assassination attempts on Queen Victoria (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

    During Queen Victoria’s sixty-four years on the British throne, no fewer than eight attempts were made on her life. Seven teenage boys and one man attempted to kill her. Far from letting it inhibit her reign over the empire, Victoria used the notoriety of the attacks to her advantage. Regardless of the traitorous motives—delusions of grandeur, revenge, paranoia, petty grievances, or a preference of prison to the streets—they were a golden opportunity for the queen to revitalize the British crown, strengthen the monarchy, push through favored acts of legislation, and prove her pluck in the face of newfound public support. “It is worth being shot at,” she said, “to see how much one is loved.”
     
    Recounting what Elizabeth Barrett marveled at as “this strange mania of queen-shooting,” and the punishments, unprecedented trials, and fate of these malcontents who were more pitiable than dangerous, Paul Thomas Murphy explores the realities of life in nineteenth-century England—for both the privileged and the impoverished. From these cloak-and-dagger plots of “regicide” to Victoria’s steadfast courage, Shooting Victoria is thrilling, insightful, and, at times, completely mad historical narrative.
     
    Whether through film (Jean-Marc Vallée’s The Young Victoria), biography (Julia Baird’s Victoria: The Queen), television (Daisy Goodwin’s Victoria), or revisionist fantasy (Paul Di Filippo’s The Steampunk Trilogy) there is a strong interest in Victorian England. Now Paul Thomas Murphy approaches this period from an eccentric, entirely new, and unexplored angle, combining legal, social, and political history into a book that is both “enlightening [and] great fun” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPegasus Books
    Release dateJul 3, 2012
    ISBN9781453249376
    Unavailable
    Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy
    Author

    Paul Thomas Murphy

    Paul Thomas Murphy is the author of Shooting Victoria, a New York Times Notable Book, and Pretty Jane and the Viper of Kidbrooke Lane, a finalist for the Edgar Award for Fact Crime. He holds advanced degrees in Victorian Studies from Oxford and McGill Universities and the University of Colorado, where he taught both English and writing on interdisciplinary topics. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

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    Reviews for Shooting Victoria

    4/5

    32 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A very well written book. Tells the story of the eight attacks made on Queen Victoria during her long reignWhile these attacks might be only mildly interesting in themselves, the author uses them to tell more of the times - both for the poor, and for the governing elite. I came away with a much better appreciation of the Victorian era than when I started the book.
    • 4/5
      Queen Victoria apparently spent a lot of time ducking. This is the history of seven boys and men who made more-or-less serious attempts on the life of the queen. Most of them were demented, although there were one or two attempts by Irish nationalists that didn't get very far. Each of these attempts resulted in a surge of popular support for the monarchy, and Victoria and Prince Albert were sharp enough to work with that. The series of attempts also drove changes to laws governing insanity pleas, and contributed to the growth and professionalization of the detective police. Well-written and a pleasure to read.
    • 4/5
      During her reign Queen Victoria survived seven assassination attempts. [Shooting Victoria] tells the story of each of those attempts and describes how they changed the monarchy's relationship with the nation and changed the legal and political relationship between Government and monarch. Along the way [[Paul Thomas Murphy]] provides potted historical summaries, curious coincidences and trips down Victorian byways that entertain as much as enlighten. This is a wonderful book that provides a clear and detailed historical examination of a little-explored aspect of Victorian history and uses that to explain larger themes in the development of Victorian society. The Queen's relationships with her Government and people were not always smooth, but Murphy shows how all sides used her surviving these assassination attempts as ways to bring all sides closer together and to strengthen the monarchy in a century when republicanism was a powerful force across the globe.
    • 5/5
      Interesting approach to Victoria and her reign, focusing on the eight assassination attempts by seven men and how they affected the monarchy. Very well written and enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      An excellent history of the assassination attempts against Queen Victoria and the individuals making the attempts. I think the book is somewhat overly long with some unnecessary information included. The author goes off in some different directions to provide discussions of the politics during the Queen’s reign, as well as the social and cultural setting. Although I believe that some of that is necessary, I think too much has been included, making the book somewhat bloated beyond what is necessary. The author did include a recap of the lives of the would-be assassins after their capture and sentences began, which satisfied a great curiosity. I still enjoyed the book, but would rather it had been less detailed in some areas.
    • 4/5
      Yes, the book's long, but that's not my problem here. My problem is that what the author calls an assassination attempt I call pitiful. A teenager with a nonfunctioning (and clearly nonfunctioning) antique pistol (antique at the time) does not qualify. Someone firing blanks (flintlocks loaded with powder and wad but no bullet) might, if he's firing close enough to set the carriage on fire (they weren't), and while I've lost count, it seemed as if that scenario accurately describes no fewer than three of these attempts. Only the final shooter was armed with a sufficiently formidable weapon to qualify as a true assassination attempt… and thankfully, he couldn't shoot straight or he aimed at the carriage wheel, as he claimed to police. And the "dynamitards" (what a fabulous term!) couldn't get their act together.The remarkable and fascinating parts of the book include the beautifully researched glimpses into Victoria and Albert's lives together, the political background of the times, and the changes in English law through the queen's long, long reign. For a cultural wallowing, there's nothing better. A clever mystery writer could take those so-called assassination attempts and work up something really exciting.3.5 stars
    • 3/5
      Very interesting description of the origins of the insanity defense.