The Murder Of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval: A Portrait Of The Assassin

Description

England entered the nineteenth century having lost the American states and was at war with France. The slave trade had been halted and the country was in torment, with industrialisation throwing men and women out of work as poverty haunted their lives. As the merchants of England and America saw their businesses stagnate and profits plummet, everyone blamed the government and its policies. Those in charge were alarmed and businessmen, who were believed to be exploiting the poor, were murdered. Assassination indeed stalked the streets. The man at the centre of the storm was Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. From the higher reaches of society to the beggar looking for bread, many wanted him dead, due to policies brought about by his inflexible religious convictions and his belief that he was appointed by God. In May 1812 he entered the Lobby of the Houses of Parliament when a man stepped forward and fired a pistol at him. The lead ball entered into his heart. Within minutes he was dead. Using freshly-discovered archive material, this book explores the assassin's thoughts and actions through his own writings. Using his background in psychology, the author explores the question of the killer's sanity and the fairness of his subsequent trial. Within its pages the reader will find an account of the murder of Spencer Perceval and a well-developed portrait of his assassin. Cover ......Page 1 Book Title ......Page 4 Copyright ......Page 5 Contents ......Page 8 Acknowledgements ......Page 10 Preface ......Page 12 Chapter 1: A Background of War and Violence ......Page 14 Chapter 2: Born Into Madness ......Page 24 Chapter 3: Marriage, Trading and Trouble ......Page 32 Chapter 4: The Sponging House and the Horse Tails ......Page 36 Chapter 5: The Leaving of Liverpool for Archangel ......Page 44 Chapter 6: Archangel to St Petersburg ......Page 52 Chapter 7: Statements of Grievances ......Page 62 Chapter 8: A Tragic Crusade ......Page 70 Chapter 9: The Normality of Madness ......Page 90 Chapter 10: The Assassin’s Justice ......Page 94 Chapter 11: I Have Only Done My Duty ......Page 104 Chapter 12: I Put Myself Upon God and My Country ......Page 110 Chapter 13: My Insanity Was Made A Matter of Public Notoriety ......Page 122 Chapter 14: I Am Perfectly Ready ......Page 144 Chapter 15: It Was From Personal Resentment – Or Was It? ......Page 148 Chapter 16: The Question of Sanity ......Page 156 Chapter 17: The Aftermath ......Page 162 Bibliography and Sources ......Page 168 Index ......Page 172 Back Cover......Page 175