Shooting Victoria

Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy

By: Paul Thomas Murphy

Narrated by: Mark Whitten

From a hunchbacked dwarf to a paranoid poet-assassin, a history of Victorian England as seen through the numerous assassination attempts on Queen Victoria while she ruled the British empire. During Queen Victoria’s 64 years on the British throne, 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 changing 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 - signaling 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."

©2012 Paul Thomas Murphy (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Assassination attemps on Queen Victoria

I found this a fascinating book. Murphy goes into detail about each of the eight people that attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria. He also covers some detail about Queen Victoria and her family that helped to create a picture of that period in time. Each of the men that that attempted the assassination were found to be mentally ill. I discovered a pearl of information I was unaware of, Daniel McNaughton was one of the men (he also tried to Kill the P.M. Peel) and he was acquitted in 1843. The first man was tried and executed under the High Treason Law the next also acted like the first and reveled in the attention he was paid. The government then tried to find a way of dealing with the mentally ill so they would not get the attention they craved and not be changed with treason. Everyone was unhappy with how McNaughton was handled. So Queen Victoria and her counsel posed a series of hypothetical questions about the deference of insanity defenses to a panel of Judges. The result from the Judges became known as the McNaughton Rule and is still used today throughout the commonwealth and the USA. It is the standard test for criminal liability in relation to mental disorders. It is also a shame that in 173 year plus we not improved the mental disease problems related to crime or the care and treatment. The book was well research but did ramble a bit in the middle of the book. Mark Whitten did an acceptable job narrating the book. I think a British narrator would have been more appropriate choice to have narrated the book. Overall I learned a great deal from the book. If you are interested in history this is a book for you.

Study of Royal Assassins

Interesting study of all the would-be assassins of Queen Victoria and how they shaped England's treason and criminal insanity laws. Performed by Mark Whitten who does great voices of the assassins and Queen Victoria.

a great slice of history book

Would you consider the audio edition of Shooting Victoria to be better than the print version?

This book is well written and very well narrated. It successfully weaves together a history of the Victorian era, a sort of joint biography of Victoria and Albert, the story of the evolution of policing, and a number of CSI-like crime stories. I was afraid all that would be too much to get in a not-so-very long book, but it was not the case. I enjoyed each episode (which is clustered around one of the six or seven assassination attempts) as a stand-alone and the weaving of all of them together to make an entertaining history.

Interesting story, wrong reader

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. An interesting examination of Victorian England and the multiple assassination attempts against Victoria but it suffers a bit from the narration.

What didn’t you like about Mark Whitten’s performance?

Jarring mispronunciations and accents/acting. Whitten's voice is pleasant enough but this particular audiobook probably would have benefited from an English reader.

Thorough Account of the 7 Attempts

This was an interesting book about the seven attempts on Queen Victoria's life and how they affected her and changed her kingdom. It is of note that each attempt strengthened her popularity and led to changes in the laws and policing of the era. Bios of the seven are included, as well as the state of the nation and monarchy at the time of the attempts. Major events of the Queen's life are covered as well. The research on this book is incredible, it really gives a feel for the era. I read this book using immersion reading, while listening to the audio book version. Narration was rote, bland and dull. The attempts to read portions in a British accent were sad as well. A British narrator should have been chosen.

Fantastic true thriller.

This is one of the best books I have listened to. I knew nothing of the attempts on Victoria's life and their effect on her reign: the first one rescued it. The relationship between the Queen, Albert, the court and the police and how these attempts helped to modernize the police force and establish Albert's place in England are well researched and described .A really good detective story taken from records of the time.
That said I wish I had read it.

The narrator is not English and went to no effort to do his homework regarding speech patterns. Victoria was raised by her German mother and a German confident. (Albert hardly spoke English when he first married Victoria). The Upper class accents are ridiculous and if he had done some preparation he would have known the correct pronunciation and emphasis for a multitude of names places and things. An L is a pound an S is a shilling ,a d is a penny. Lazy and irritating ;however the narrator's voice is clear and his speech is fluent with no unnecessary histrionics.

History at its finest and most accessible.

Have you listened to any of Mark Whitten’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator was one of the best I've heard. He was respectful of the material while at the same time gave a wide range of persons unique voices and personalities. His narration was excellent work.

Any additional comments?

Fascinating, informative, and entertaining. Assassins tried seven times to harm Queen Victoria. Each time, she turned their efforts into an opportunity to transform the British monarchy from the discredited shell she inherited into the institution it is today. Assassinations sound grim, but “Shooting Victoria” is a delightful and deeply researched history of the Victorian era that offers insights into a surprising range of topics, from corn laws to insanity law to treason law to politics to the royal household to Albert to Jumbo the elephant and far too much more to name. Highly recommended.