The Book of Assassins: A Biographical Dictionary from Ancient Times to the Present - Tapa dura

Acerca del autor

GEORGE FETHERLING is the author of fifty books. A former literary editor at the Toronto Star and a regular columnist and book reviewer, Mr. Fetherling lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

De la solapa interior

There have been hundreds of books on famous assassinations, but nearly all have focused on the victims rather than the assassins themselves. Until now, there has never been a single source for the life stories of assassins throughout history: the infamous and the overlooked, the madmen and the zealots, the incompetent and the ruthlessly efficient, those who failed and those who succeeded in their dark tasks. The Book of Assassins is an enlightening and entertaining reference book for true-crime fans, historians, and anyone interested in those who committedor attempted to commitsome of the worlds most heinous crimes.

We all know the names Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth. But who remembers Max Hödel, considered the least successful assassin in history? What wealthy aristocrat killed Rasputin and lived on until 1967? How many different people attempted to assassinate Hitleror Queen Victoria? Which modern world leader holds the record for surviving assassins plotsand who were the plotters? How did Renaissance noblewoman Caterina Sforza attempt to infect a pope with the plague?

With answers to these questions and more, The Book of Assassins is packed with interesting trivia and little-known facts, as well as an alphabetical index of victims. In an engaging essay, author George Fetherling explains the five types of assassinspower seekers (Cesare Borgia), mercenaries (Bulgarian hitman Vlada the Chauffeur), ideologues (Gavrilo Princip), celebrity stalkers (Mark David Chapman), and revenge-seekers (Valerie Solanas, who shot Andy Warhol)that have appeared throughout history.

Insightful, well-researched, and highly readable, The Book of Assassins is not only a compendium of crimes but also an absorbing chronicle of the obscure and notorious characters who have irrevocably altered the course of human events, often in ways they never intended.