Duel by James Landale
In 1826 a merchant called David Landale shot dead his bank manager in what was one of Britain's last recorded fatal duels. Two centuries later, newly discovered legal archives have made it possible for one of his descendents, James Landale, to reconstruct this duel and the circumstances surrounding it. With painstaking detail, Duel gives fresh insight into why two rational, educated human beings in the 1820s might choose to resolve a dispute by shooting at one another. Landale also tells the story of duelling itself, explaining where it came from, and why it suddenly lost its social legitimacy in the middle of the 19th century. Above all, Duel grippingly explains why this curious thing called honour drove so many young men to death.
Landale tells this gory story with pace and panache, regaling his reader with many bloodcurdling moments* * Daily Telegraph * *
Landale's dispute serves as a wonderful premise to rake through all kinds of lunacy from the margins of history. * * Independent on Sunday * *
An intelligent, gripping read. * * Time Out * *
Interwoven with the lethal, often bizarre history of duelling, this is also a local story of middle-class merchants caught up in centuries-old codes of honour and aristocratic bloodletting. Gripping, unusual and splendidly-written. -- Andrew Marr
Landale's dispute serves as a wonderful premise to rake through all kinds of lunacy from the margins of history. * * Independent on Sunday * *
An intelligent, gripping read. * * Time Out * *
Interwoven with the lethal, often bizarre history of duelling, this is also a local story of middle-class merchants caught up in centuries-old codes of honour and aristocratic bloodletting. Gripping, unusual and splendidly-written. -- Andrew Marr
JAMES LANDALE is an experienced journalist who is currently the Chief Political Correspondent for BBC News 24. Before joining the BBC in January 2003, he spent ten years working at The Times, most recently as Assistant Foreign Editor. He lives in London.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781841958224 |
| ISBN 10 | 1841958220 |
| Title | Duel |
| Author | James Landale |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Canongate Books |
| Year published | 2006-06-01 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |