In his latest book, Isle of Wight author, M J Trow, focuses his attention on a gripping reconstruction of the plot to assassinate the British Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1820.
Enemies of the State: The Cato Street Conspiracy explores the characters, motives and radical politics of the plotters and sets the conspiracy in the wider context of Britain after the Napoleonic Wars.
The Cato Street conspirators
On 1st May 1820, outside Newgate Prison, in front of a dense crowd, five of the Cato Street conspirators – Arthur Thistlewood, William Davidson, James Ings, Richard Tidd and John Brunt – were hanged for high treason.
Then they were decapitated in the last brutal act of a murderous conspiracy that aimed to assassinate Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and his cabinet and destroy his government.
Matching Gunpowder plotters in their daring
The Cato Street conspirators matched the Gunpowder plotters in their daring – and in their fate – but their dark, radical intrigue hasnt received the attention it deserves.
M J Trow, in this gripping fast-moving account of this notorious but neglected episode in British history, reconstructs the case in vivid detail and sets it in the wider context of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
About the Author
M J Trow has written highly praised historical biographies as well as studies of true crime. He is also a very successful novelist.
Among his recent publications are lives of Boudicca, Vlad the Impaler, Kit Marlowe, the hero of the Charge of the Light Brigade, Captain William Morris, and War Crimes: Underworld Britain in the Second World War.
He has produced several best-selling accounts of criminal cases, in particular volumes on Derek Bentley, the Wigwam murder and Jack the Ripper. But he is perhaps best known for his many novels, which include the Lestrade and Maxwell series.
If you’d like to buy the book, head to your local bookshop or purchase from the publisher, Pen and Sword.
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Image: Simon Harriyott under CC BY 2.0
