Fenian Fire

Queen Victoria was the most shot-at of all British monarchs (she rather welcomed this, as the public horror at the various attempts proved, to her, how much she was loved by the public). This book mentions them only in passing, and concentrates entirely on a Fenian plot (most public outrages of the time were the result of the Irish question) to blow up Westminster Abbey while she was there celebrating her silver jubilee. It is an extremely interesting and very complex story, with a fascinating main character in the American 'General' Frank Millen, an apparently respectable journalist and ex-missionary who was never properly brought to book. But there are innumerable ramifications involving British and Irish MPs, the smuggling of explosives, forgery, burglary and murder, American support for Irish nationalists, actions for libel against The Times - all against the background of the Irish famine, the controversy connecting Charles Stuart Parnell with alleged criminal activities and Lord Randolph Churchill's support of Ulster. It is a complex tapestry, and the author treats it almost filmically, with the scene moving swiftly from place to place: the British consulate in New York to HM Legation in Stockholm to the House of Commons to Room 56 of the Home Office.... Campbell has consulted documents only very recently released (in fact, he seems to have had to prise them almost physically from the Records Office) and although the reader must concentrate hard to follow the story, identify the many character and appreciate their motives, he tells an exciting and surprising story with pace and skill. (Kirkus UK)