The Damnation of John Donellan by Elizabeth Cooke
In August 1780 Sir Theodosius Boughton, a dissolute Old Etonian twenty-year-old and heir to a Warwickshire fortune, died in painful convulsions after taking his medicine. The following year after an inquest and trial which became a cause celebre, his brother-in-law, Captain John 'Diamond' Donellan, Irish soldier of fortune and man about town, was tried for his murder. The trial was a shambles. And was Donellan guilty? Based on extensive research and the engrossing trial transcripts Elizabeth Cooke's book shows the dark and violent underside of the society of Mansfield Park.
I read this with great enjoymentThe author has produced a forensically detailed examination of a murder with a witty picture of the social world of the gentry at the end of the eighteenth century. Her eye and ear for the period are unerring. A delight. -- Judith Flanders * Author of 'The Invention of Murder' *
A masterpiece of well-founded suspicions based on first-hand evidence -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *
Highly readable ... gripping * Daily Express *
A fascinating account of a Georgian cause celebre ... just as Kate Summerscale did brilliantly in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Cooke focuses on legal procedure and forensic evidence to gripping effect -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *
A masterpiece of well-founded suspicions based on first-hand evidence -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *
Highly readable ... gripping * Daily Express *
A fascinating account of a Georgian cause celebre ... just as Kate Summerscale did brilliantly in The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Cooke focuses on legal procedure and forensic evidence to gripping effect -- Kathryn Hughes * Mail on Sunday *
Under the name Elizabeth McGregor Elizabeth Cooke has been writing for over twenty years and has published ten novels: Little White Lies was televised by the BBC and in The Ice Child she turned to a historical theme for the first time with the story of the Franklin expedition. Elizabeth Cooke lives in Dorset.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846684821 |
| ISBN 10 | 184668482X |
| Title | The Damnation of John Donellan |
| Author | Elizabeth Cooke |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Profile Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2011-08-04 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |