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The story of a young convict, Solomon Blay, who became Her Majesty's hangman in Van Diemen's Land; the man who personally had to deliver an Empire's judgment on 200 men and women, and endured his own noose of personal demons and demonisation in order to &quot;survive&quot;; all in the context of the great struggles of good-evil, life-death, hope-despair, which drew the attention of Darwin, Twain, Trollope and Dickens as Van Diemen's Land evolved from a Hades of Evil to sow the seeds of nationhood. The book paints a vivid picture of the society and poverty from which Blay's character was forged in England and the desperate, brutal nature of being a convict in Van Diemen's Land. Solomon's Noose is an important book in exposing the dark 'underbelly' in the formation of modern Australia. <br /> <br /><i>From the furthest corner of that foreign country, the past, comes the haunting story of the convict who became the British Empire's youngest executioner. Beware the shock of the true. </i><br />– Andrew Rule, award-winning journalist and author. <br /> <br /><i>Impressive research and a story that challenges the imagination – except that it's true. A prisoner elects to become a hangman – to improve his lot in life. All this set against the Gothic world of Van Diemen's Land in the time of convicts, bushrangers and rough justice. </i><br />– Les Carlyon, bestselling author of <i>Gallipoli </i>and <i>The Great War</i>.

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As engrossing as a novel, this story of the death of childhood in the cradle of the world's mightiest empire, and the atmospheric tale of crime and punishment leading to a sensational murder trial is from another time but implicitly raises questions which remain with us today.<br />Steve Harris' book humanises a most bizarre social experiment and brings out its grotesqueness in dramatic form. The tale is so comprehensively and authentically written that it is a service to Australian and British readers.<br />– Tom Keneally, winner of the Booker Prize and Miles Franklin Award

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The engrossing real life story of how Queen Victoria's favourite son, Prince Alfred, undertook the most ambitious Royal tour, only for Australia's overwhelming joy of having the first Royal on its shores jolted by his decadent behaviour, then shocked by an attempted assassination by a man trained as a priest.<br /> <br />The British Empire's youngest and most distant outpost found itself at the epicentre of a new crime and empirical fears about the first inter-continental terrorist group, a conspiracy and a 'lone wolf '. In a resulting 'reign of terror' extraordinary steps were taken to safeguard security with laws on treason and sedition which even the Queen felt went too far, and the would-be assassin was hastily executed in a miscarriage of justice led by opportunistic politicians.<br /> <br />This is an extraordinary and atmospheric weaving of the stories – some detailed for the first time – of royal intrigue, sexual appetite, religious bigotry, patriotic vengeance, naked ambition, national security and moral panic. They are stories of royals, immigrants, archbishops, republicans and the founding fathers of Australia and issues that remain with us today.<br /> <br />Drawing on Royal, British and Australian archives, the compelling narrative embraces a pivotal time in the evolution of Australia, and on the 150th anniversary reveals how a minute of madness rocked the country to its foundations, with a legacy which helped shape Australia's history and continues to influence and challenge us today.<br /> <br />Revelations &amp; insights in <i>The Prince and the Assassin:</i><br />– Prince Alfred's spare heir upbringing as 'the chosen one' and prospective King of Australia<br />– Sexually decadent royal behaviour<br />– An historic tour which became the model for 50 subsequent royal tours to Australia<br />– Religious bigotry, violence and death in early Australia<br />– How a young migrant trained and destined to be a priest became an assassin<br />– How the biggest crime in Australia shocked, shamed, terrorised and divided the country<br />– How Henry Parkes, 'founder of federation', suppressed and doctored evidence, hired private spies and criminals for political advantage<br />– Australia suppressing civil liberties, even making it a crime of treason to discuss republicanism and to not drink a toast to the Queen<br />– Australian Catholics accused of disloyalty and an Archbishop conspiring against the Government<br />– Australia's most sensational trial, one of injustice and vengeance for a crime not on the Empire's capital list<br />– Alfred appealing for his would-be killer to not be executed<br />– An Australian Government accused of promoting fear for political advantage and committing treason and fraud

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