Last Duel: A True Story of Death and Honour by James Landale

From the Publisher

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, The Last 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

Publishers Weekly

Armed with a wealth of primary sources, BBC correspondent Landale serves up an interesting history of the last recorded fatal duel in Scotland between his ancestor David Landale, a prosperous linen merchant, and Landale's one-time banker, George Morgan, on August 23, 1826. In a small town on Scotland's southeastern coast suffering an economic crisis following the Napoleonic wars, Morgan was a social-climbing, violent ex-soldier who refused Landale credit, and when his client took his business elsewhere, Morgan spread devastating rumors about him. Landale complained to Morgan's bosses at the Bank of Scotland, which led to the measured businessman challenging Morgan to a duel after being struck by the bullying banker with an umbrella on the street. Morgan was killed, and Landale was eventually acquitted at trial. His reputation and business were duly restored, and his daughter married Morgan's nephew. As the author perceptively traces the history of dueling from its origins in the Middle Ages, he entertains with a host of anecdotes and colorful characters, from a couple of eccentrics who dueled over a dancer while floating over Paris in separate balloons, to a pair of ladies in a "petticoat duel" fighting over the rights to a duke's bed. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Given the subject matter, Landale (correspondent, BBC) has written a surprisingly amusing and comprehensive history of an ancestor who participated in one of the last duels in Great Britain. The duel occurred in 1826 between respectable Scottish merchant David Landale and bullying ex-military man George Morgan. The major part of the tale concerns these two men and Morgan's aggressive actions, which led to the inevitable duel. In addition, the methods of dueling throughout history often quite gruesome yet occasionally humorous are covered in detail. This well-researched book, for which Landale relied in part on newly discovered archives, also delves into the sometimes inexplicable codes of honor upheld by the aristocracy in Europe and the United States. David Landale ended up being tried for murder but was acquitted as seems rightful. Comprehensive descriptions of primary and secondary sources and an excellent index support the authenticity of the research. Recommended for history collections. B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Memorial Lib., Sag Harbor, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An affronted merchant and his pugnacious banker meet on the field of honor with fatal results. In 1826, one of the last recorded duels in Europe took place when reputable Scottish businessman David Landale challenged decommissioned officer and all-around rapscallion George Morgan, an agent for the Bank of Scotland. Their dispute stemmed from Morgan's indiscreet sharing with various creditors of information pertaining to Landale's financial problems after Landale, offended by the bank's refusal to assist him during an economic depression, moved his account to a competing institution. At a time when a man's reputation was as important as his wealth, if not more so, Landale soon faced a steady stream of creditors demanding repayment of loans as a result of Morgan's imprudent and somewhat inaccurate revelations. Upon learning that Landale had written to Morgan's superiors to complain of his ill usage, the agent accosted him in the street, whacking him across the back with an umbrella. Though less frequent than in times past, the duel was still a viable means for a gentleman to restore his honor in such circumstances, so Landale issued a challenge. When the two fought the next morning, the inexperienced Landale shot and killed Morgan. The author, a BBC correspondent and a descendant of Landale, interweaves into this personal narrative a riveting history of dueling, exploring its origins in the days when knights fought trials by combat and examining dueling customs throughout Europe and the United States. By turns fascinating and perplexing, the story serves as the perfect microcosm of what the "noble" art of dueling had become by the mid-19th century: an outdated custom more likely to be aresponse to a petty slights than a redress for grievous wrongs.

Product Details

• ISBN: 1841958255
  
• ISBN-13: 9781841958255
• Format: Hardcover, 604pp
• Publisher: Pgw
• Pub. Date: September 2006
• Sales Rank: 693,548