Bendigo: Right Fist of God by Alan Dance and David Field

Description

This novel is based around the life of William Thompson, one of Nottingham’s best known historical characters. It follows the life of Bendigo from his birth in 1811 through to his death in 1880, as he fights his way from the poverty of a Nottingham slum, via the workhouse and street brawls, to fame and fortune as champion bare-fist boxer of all England, and finally converting to become an evangelical preacher, fighting the good fight from the pulpit rather than the ring.

Many of the people mentioned in this book existed – his opponents, his trainers and the various backers and promoters of his fights, others have been conjured up by the authors. 208pp