The name Spencer Perceval is not as well known as Abraham Lincoln or John F Kennedy, but he is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated in the almost 300 years that the office has existed. When Perceval arrived at the House of Commons on 11 May 1812, John Bellingham, a successful entrepreneur, shot him in the chest at point-blank range. Within a few minutes he was dead. Bellingham was immediately arrested and put on trial two days later: refusing to plead insanity, he was convicted and hanged before the week was out. In a story of suspense, revenge and personal tragedy, David C Hanrahan tells the interwoven stories of Perceval and Bellingham, detailing not just the events of May 1812, but also the two men's histories, and what led one to take the other's life.

David C Hanrahan is the author of Colonel Blood: The Man Who Stole the Crown Jewels and Charles II and the Duke of Buckingham: the Merry Monarch and the Aristocratic Rogue. He has also written for BBC History Magazine and worked as an historical consultant for the television programme Days that Shook the World.