Brutal murder of Newbury showman told in new book
Renowned impresario Lord George Sanger died violently, battered to death with a hatchet by an insane employee
THERE’S a fascinating new book coming out, written by New York Times bestselling author Karl Shaw, about the brutal death of a renowned Newbury showman, which shocked Edwardian England.
On November 28, 1911, just a few weeks before his 86th birthday, the retired showman died violently at his home in North London.
Later a coroner ruled that he was battered to death with a hatchet by an insane employee.
Known to the world as Lord George Sanger, he was once the biggest name in showbusiness and was venerated as a national institution. He became a magician, married a lion tamer and reinvented himself as a circus proprietor. Just as PT Barnum ruled the world of popular entertainment in America, for more than half a century Sanger was the biggest brand in British showbusiness.
And he was born in Newbury. Using previously unpublished archival material, hidden for 110 years, Karl Shaw reveals the true story behind the brutal murder of Britain’s biggest name in showbusiness.
Shaw is a North Staffordshirebased journalist and author of the New York Times bestselling Royal Babylon: The Alarming History of European Royalty and The First Showman, shortlisted for the 2020 Arnold Bennett Prize.
The death of Britain’s wealthiest showman reads like a popular crime thriller; a merciless killer, a famous victim, a desperate manhunt and a dramatic denouement few could have anticipated.
But for over a century, questions have persisted about the murder and many details about the case were never testified in court. Like so much in Lord George’s life, nothing was quite as it seemed.
Weaving in the history of George’s rise to fame in Britain’s travelling entertainment industry and using previously unpublished archival material, The Killing of Lord George reveals the gripping true story