The Killing of Lord George

The life and death of a 19th-century circus legend.

On 28 November 1911 a retired showman died violently at his home in North London. Known to the world as Lord George Sanger, he was once the biggest name in showbusiness, and was venerated as a national institution.

The death of Britain's wealthiest showman read 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.

Weaving in the story of George's rise to fame and the history of Britain's entertainment industry, The Killing of Lord George uses previously unpublished archive material to reveal the true story behind the brutal crime that shocked Edwardian England.