The Lion and the Eagle

The story of bare-knuckle prize fighting between Tom Sayers and John Heenan which gripped England and the USA in 1860. The fighters, their handlers and the spectators avoided police to watch the contest which was held in the Hampshire countryside. Both men were hugely popular with their own countries and 10,000 people turned out to watch the funeral of Sayers five years later. Manson captures perfectly the robust flavour of the Victorian era and the sport that defined it.