The Minutes of the Lazarus Club – Tony Pollard
Historical Fiction set in London in the Mid-Nineteenth Century
Oct 28, 2008
The Minutes of the Lazarus Club (Michael Joseph, 2008) by renowned archaeologist Dr Tony Pollard features central characters based on some of the great innovators and visionaries of the 19th century.
The Minutes of the Lazarus Club
Set in the late 1850s in London, The Minutes of the Lazarus Club is narrated by the fictional character of Dr George Phillips, a surgeon at St. Thomas’ Hospital. The novel commences with the ghoulish discovery in the Thames River of a decaying body missing both heart and lungs.
Bodies continue to be found in the river and George Phillips progresses police advisor to prime suspect. In addition, Phillips’ life comes under threat through his association with The Lazarus Club, an organisation formed to allow some of the great innovators of the 19th century to meet together and discuss their theories and inventions without restrictions.
Lazarus Club Members
As a fictional construct, The Lazarus Club works extremely well to provide an opportunity to consider some of the great names and feats of science and engineering in Britain in the mid to late 1800s. Isambard Kingdom Brunel describes The Lazarus Club as a forum for “individual thinkers, inventors and creators”. Brunel is best remembered for his ambitious project to build the SS Great Eastern, the largest ship ever built at the time of her launch in 1858.
Introduced into the group by Brunel and offered a role as club secretary, Phillips meets significant players in the years leading to the Industrial Revolution including Charles Babbage, Robert Stephenson, Joseph Bazalgette, Godsworthy Gurney and Isambard Brunel. Guest speakers include Charles Darwin, who shares the ideas soon to be published in his On the Origin of the Species.
The real-life characters Pollard includes in his story were all alive during the time in which the novel is set and would quite conceivably have known each other. Readers interested in discerning historical fact from fiction will find plenty of details to research and may be surprised at how many minor personality or story particulars are strongly based in fact.
A Historical Drama set at the Beginning of the Industrial Revolution
The search for the serial killer and the threats on George Phillips life that occur through his association with The Lazarus Club are well developed and interesting, however the pace of the novel is too slow for them to truly be considered suspenseful.
The real strength of The Minutes of the Lazarus Club lies in the detailed description of life in London and England in general in the late 1850s and in consideration of the intellect, innovations and vision of the men introduced through The Lazarus Club itself. These details particularly apply to the fields of engineering and medicine.
Isambard Brunel plays a significant role in the novel and many of his achievements are specifically detailed. Medical advancements are revealed through Dr Phillips and his supervisor as well as through discussions with and about Florence Nightingale, who features as a secondary character based at St Thomas’ Hospital, where in reality she established her first official school for nurses.
A Work of Fiction for those Interested in Facts
Dr Tony Pollard is the Director of the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology at Glasgow University. His diverse professional experience includes working as a forensic archaeologist with police forces throughout Britain.
The Minutes of the Lazarus Club will appeal to readers who enjoy a strong factual basis for their reading. While the interpersonal connections between characters are fictional, several primary characters are strongly based in facts.
The novel offers an interesting, detailed and well-constructed snapshot of London life at a time of great scientific and technical innovation, highlighting the incredible variety and depth of the intellectual resources available at the time.
The Minutes of the Lazarus Club (ISBN: 978-0-7181-5447-9, 439 pages)
