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In April 1871, a constable walking a beat near Greenwich found a
girl dying in the mud - her face cruelly slashed and her brains
protruding from her skull. The girl was Maria Jane Clouson, a maid
for the respectable Pook family, and who was pregnant at the time
of her death. When the blood-spattered clothes of the 20-year-old
Edmund Pook, alleged father of the dead girl's unborn child, were
discovered, the matter seemed open and shut. Yet there followed a
remarkable legal odyssey full of unexpected twists as the police
struggled to build a case. Paul Thomas Murphy recreated the drama
of an extraordinary murder case and conclusively identifies the
killer's true identity.
During Queen Victoria's 64-year reign, no fewer than eight attempts
were made on her life. Murphy follows each would-be assassin and
the repercussions of their actions, illuminating daily life in
Victorian England, the development of the monarchy under Queen
Victoria and the evolution of the attacks in light of evolving
social issues and technology. There was Edward Oxford, a bartender
who dreamed of becoming an admiral, who was simply shocked when his
attempt to shoot the pregnant Queen and Prince consort made him a
madman in the world's eyes. There was hunchbacked John Bean, who
dreamed of historical notoriety in a publicized treason trial, and
William Hamilton, forever scarred by the ravages of the Irish
Potato Famine. Roderick MacLean enabled Victoria to successfully
strike insanity pleas from Britain's legal process. Most
threatening of all were the "dynamitards" who targeted her
Majesty's Golden Jubilee-who signaled the advent of modern
terrorism with their publicly focused attack. From these
cloak-and-dagger plots to Victoria's brilliant wit and steadfast
courage, Shooting Victoria is historical narrative at its most
thrilling, complete with astute insight into how these attacks
actually revitalized the British crown at a time when monarchy was
quickly becoming unpopular abroad. While thrones across Europe
toppled, the Queen's would-be assassins contributed greatly to the
preservation of the monarchy and to the stability that it enjoys
today. After all, as Victoria herself noted, "It is worth being
shot at-to see how much one is loved."
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