Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die: The Assassination of a British Prime Minister
Author:
Genres: History, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: History, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Type: Paperback
Well written account of a surprisingly forgotten episode of British history, the first and only assassination of a British Prime Minister. PM Spencer Perceval was shot and killed in the lobby of Parliament by a mentally unbalanced Liverpool businessman who thought that killing the PM would force a court to compensate him for his business losses.
In a hurried trial - John Bellingham, the assassin, was executed less than one week after the murder - the defense's attempt to plead insanity was rejected, but Linklater's account makes it clear that Bellingham really was unhinged by the business setbacks he had suffered. He also puts those setbacks, and the extreme action Bellingham took to get "justice," in the context of Perceval's government policies. Bellingham may have been a deranged man with a grudge, working alone, but Linklater makes further interesting and plausible claims about who probably bankrolled his "mission."
In a hurried trial - John Bellingham, the assassin, was executed less than one week after the murder - the defense's attempt to plead insanity was rejected, but Linklater's account makes it clear that Bellingham really was unhinged by the business setbacks he had suffered. He also puts those setbacks, and the extreme action Bellingham took to get "justice," in the context of Perceval's government policies. Bellingham may have been a deranged man with a grudge, working alone, but Linklater makes further interesting and plausible claims about who probably bankrolled his "mission."
