Assassination (An Illustrated History of Political Murder) by Lindsay Porter

by Lindsay Porter

Assassination the politically motivated killing of high-profile individuals has always been part of man’s struggle for power, from the removal of tyrants in Classical civilizations to the state-sanctioned ?decapitation strikes’ of the present day. Chillingly effective as a political tool, assassination is also immensely compelling as an idea. This book examines the concept of political murder, asking questions such as: What did Julius Caesar’s death mean to the Romans? How can assassination be justified? Have our attitudes towards it shifted through time? And why do the circumstances surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy continue to haunt our collective consciousness?

From Caesar and Thomas Becket to Archduke Franz Ferdinand and beyond, this visually striking and intriguing book focuses on the most (in)famous examples of assassination through history, and uses them to explore its various meanings, myths and cults.

Fully illustrated with paintings, drawings, photographs and archival documents, Assassination shows how the violent deaths of leaders and statesmen have played out in the popular and artistic imagination from earliest times to the present, illuminating both contemporary responses to assassinations and their lasting impact on our world.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction

192 pages, Unknown Binding

First published February 1, 2010

Reviews

[Laura]

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[Beorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book written by someone who is seemingly an expert on conspiracy theories, Porter is remarkably determined to stick to establishment lines about who & what anarchists were, painting them all (and thusly their descendants) as violence perpetuating terrorist thugs. That is logic along the same level as the notion that all Labour Party voters are radical left wing vegetarians.

No mention is made whatsoever of the numerous prolific writers and intellectuals who could easily be termed as 'anarchists', who actively and passionately denounced violence. Hell, it actually spawned it's own sub-genre, namely anarcho-pacifism.

Such lazy ideological stereotyping is a nasty stain on what otherwise was a rather well written, interesting book on around a dozen assassinations which shaped the world, from Caesar to Kennedy (though taking in subsequent attempts on the lives of US Presidents) and modern examples of toppling of heads of state.

Good, could be better, but not the worst book on the subject at hand.