Day of the Assassins

A History of Political Murder

Michael Burleigh

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Hardback

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English

Picador
28 September 2021

History; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; 21st century history: from c 2000 -; Espionage & secret services; Political assassinations

'Written with Burleigh's characteristic brio, with pithy summaries of historical moments (he is brilliant on the Americans in Vietnam, for example) and full of surprising vignettes' - The Times 'Book of the Week'

'Brilliant and timely . . . Our world today is as dangerous and mixed-up as it has ever been. Luckily we have Michael Burleigh to help us make sense of it.' - Mail on Sunday

The traditional image of a political assassin is a lone wolf with a rifle, aimed squarely at the head of those they wish to kill. But while there has been enormous speculation on what lay behind notorious individual political assassinations - from Julius Caesar to John F. Kennedy - the phenomenon itself has scarcely been examined as a special category of political violence, one not motivated by personal gain or vengeance.

Now, in Day of the Assassins, acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh explores the many facets of political assassination, explaining why it is more frequent in certain types of society than others and asking if assassination can either bring about change or prevent it, and whether, like a contagious disease, political murder can be catching. Focusing chiefly on the last century and a half, Burleigh takes readers around the world, from Europe, Russia, Israel and the United States to the Congo, India, Iran, Laos, Rwanda, South Africa and Vietnam. And, as we travel, we revisit notable assassinations, among them Leon Trotsky, Hendrik Verwoerd, Juvénal Habyarimana, Indira Gandhi, Yitzhak Rabin and Jamal Khashoggi.

Throughout, the assassins themselves are at the centre of the narrative, whether they were cool, well-trained professional killers, like the agents of the NKVD or the KGB - or, indeed, the CIA - or men motivated by the politicization of their private miseries, like Gavrilo Princip or Lee Harvey Oswald. Even some of those who were demonstrably mad had method in their madness and acted for comprehensible political motives.

Combining human drama, questions of political morality and the sheer randomness of events, Day of the Assassins is a riveting insight into the politics of violence.

By: Michael Burleigh
Imprint: Picador
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 243mm, Width: 162mm, Spine: 45mm
Weight: 678g
ISBN: 9781529030136
ISBN 10: 1529030137
Pages: 448
Publication Date: 28 September 2021
Recommended Age: From 18 years
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Michael Burleigh is a historian and commentator. His books include the bestselling The Third Reich: A New History, which won the 2001 Samuel Johnson Prize; Small Wars, Far Away Places, which was longlisted for the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times and Day of the Assassins. He writes regularly for The Times, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday on international affairs and has also won a British Film Institute Award for Archival Achievement and a New York Film and Television Festival Award Bronze Medal. A Professor of Modern History, Michael was the first appointed Engelsberg Chair of History and International Relations at LSE IDEAS, which is an annual distinguished visiting professorship, delivering public lectures to LSE's foreign policy think tank. He held the post from 2019 to 2020. He lives in London.

Reviews for Day of the Assassins: A History of Political Murder

Day of the Assassins is written with Burleigh's characteristic brio, with pithy summaries of historical moments (he is brilliant on the Americans in Vietnam, for example) and full of surprising vignettes, which he handles with a commendable sang-froid. -- David Aaronovitch 'Book of the Week' * The Times * A lively account of how political murders, from Julius Caesar onwards, have differed from most others. * Daily Telegraph Top History Books of the Year * Michael Burleigh's Day of the Assassins reminds us that political murder is as old as mankind . . . The detail, as always in Burleigh's books, is conveyed with great brio -- Jonathan Powell * New Statesman * One of the great pleasures of reading Burleigh, a man never afraid to speak his mind, is the matter-of-fact way in which he dissects and disposes of sacred cows . . . Burleigh's analysis of Putin's Russia, incidentally, is a brilliant and timely reminder of the danger of taking things at face value. Our world today is as dangerous and mixed-up as it has ever been. Luckily we have Michael Burleigh to help us make sense of it. -- Simon Griffith * Mail on Sunday * A thoughtful and eminently readable book. -- Nigel Jones * BBC History Magazine * Burleigh, a historian of Germany and a prolific newspaper commentator, is careful to recognise the whodunnits where mystery is as gripping as any historical methodology. -- Peter Stothard * History Today * Relentlessly sanguinary . . . harshly excellent. -- Jonathan Meades * Literary Review *