The Murderer of Warren Street: The True Story of a Nineteenth-Century Revolutionary

(Paperback)

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Immortalised in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, this is the true story of a life more remarkable than fiction- Emmanuel Barthelemy - Victorian murderer, barricade fighter and revolutionary. A DAILY EXPRESS BOOK OF THE YEAR REVOLUTIONARY. CONSPIRATOR. JAIL-BREAKER. FUGITIVE. DUELLIST. RADICAL. AND KILLER. ON 8 December 1854, Emmanuel Barthelemy visited 73 Warren Street in the heart of radical London for the very last time. Within half an hour, two men were dead. The newspapers of Victorian England were soon in a frenzy. Who was this foreigner come to British shores to slay two upstanding subjects But Barthelemy was no ordinary criminal... Marc Mulholland reveals the true story of one of nineteenth-century London's most notorious murderers and revolutionaries. Following in Barthelemy's footsteps, he leads us from the barricades of the French capital to the English fireside of Karl Marx, and the dangling noose of London's Newgate prison, shining a light into a dark underworld of conspiracy, rebellion and fatal idealism. The Murderer of Warren Street is a thrilling portrait of a troubled man in troubled times - full of resonance for our own terrorised age.

Reviews

[A] remarkable book. Its an extraordinary story, full of incident, drama and dark comedy * Daily Mail *

The Murderer of Warren Street begins as a penny-dreadful and develops into a dual portrait of London and Paris in an age of discontent, conspiracy and revolution. Our hero (or villain) is Barthlemy, a charismatic mix of Spartacus, the Scarlet Pimpernel and Jean Valjean. The Paris chapters have the ring of Victor Hugo, the London chapters are murkily Dickensian. Is Barthlemy an enigmatic outsider like John Harmon, alias Rokesmith, pulled from the Thames in Our Mutual Friend Or a skulking, ungovernable menace like Rigaud in Little Dorrit

Mulholland tells Barthlemys story with speed and confidence. As a life, Barthlemys has it all: double crossings, sabotaged pistols, secret safe houses, disguises, affairs with Italian actresses, brutal guards, prison breaks, rooftop escapes over icy slates and a French femme fatale who may or may not be a spy.

-- Laura Freeman * The Times *
A Victorian whodunit... Swashbuckling adventure and political thriller... Until now Emmanuel Barthlemy has not taken centre stage which seems astonishing. Marc Mulholland must have hugged himself with glee when he had the idea. He has done it full justice A magnificent book. -- Francis Wheen * The Oldie *
A biography that begins with a bang... In dealing with this unsympathetic figure, Mulholland proves to be an excellent guide: knowledgeable, fair-minded, and even handed. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * Spectator *

The Murderer of Warren Street unravels a real-life Victorian mystery that ended in the last formal duel fought on British soil but it does much more than that. Mulholland plunges us into the dark world of European socialism, and its cast includes famous figures like Karl Marx and Victor Hugo as well as the sinister yet admirable figure of Barthlmy.

-- David Bellos, author of The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Misrables

Author Bio

Marc Mulholland is a Professor of Modern History at St Catherine's College, Oxford University. He specialises in the development of international socialism, the history of political thought, Revolution and modern Ireland. Marc is from County Antrim in Ireland, one of nine children. As his father was a forester he grew up in the woods at Portglenone. He lives in Oxford with his partner, Victoria.