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The Assassination of the Prime Minister: John Bellingham and the Murder of Spencer Perceval
by David C. HanrahamOnly once in history has a British Prime Minister been assassinated. At 5.00 p.m. on Monday, 11 May 1812, John Bellingham made his way to the Houses of Parliament carrying concealed weapons. At 5.15 p.m., as the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Spencer Perceval, was making his way across the lobby leading to the House of Commons, Bellingham shot him dead at point-blank range. Bellingham was immediately arrested adn put on trial two days later: refusing to plead insanity, he was convicted and hanged before the week was out. Bellingham was neither a revolutionary nor a religious fanatic, but a successful young entrepreneur. What had driven him to commit such a heinous crime? In a story of suspense, revenge and personal tragedy, David C. Hanrahan tells the interwoven stories of Perceval and Bellingham, detailing not just the events of May 1812, but also the two men's histories, and what led one to take the other's life.
Assassinations and Murder in Modern Italy: Transformations in Society and Culture (Italian and Italian American Studies)
by Lucia Rinaldi S. GundleAn extraordinary series of murders and political assassinations has marked contemporary Italian history, from the killing of the king in 1900 to the assassination of former prime minister Aldo Moro in 1978. This book explores well-known and lesser-known assassinations and murders in their historical, political and cultural contexts.
Assassinations That Changed The World
by Nigel CawthorneWe live in an age of asymmetric warfare. Huge armies no longer face each other on the battlefield. Instead heads of major powers and lone assassins (or martyrs) target each other to pursue their agendas. President Donald Trump felt it necessary to use drones to blow away the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Qasem Soleimani-a mastermind of terrorism in the Middle East who threatened the lives of US troops-and President Barack Obama felt fully justified in sending in US Navy SEALs to take out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. This is the nature of modern warfare. And it is only going to get worse.When nineteen-year-old Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, in 1914, he triggered the First World War. Few assassinations have had such devastating consequences, but political assassinations have always changed the world – often in ways that the assassins and their cohorts could not have predicted. The murder of John F. Kennedy left Lyndon B. Johnson free to escalate the war in Vietnam. However, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. while not derailing the demands for African American civil rights in the US, did lead many to abandoning his commitment to nonviolence and adopting more radical means. In a world globalized by social media, more lone-wolf assassins seek their fifteen minutes of fame by taking out a famous figure, while leaders of world powers have everything to gain by decapitating terrorist organizations, employing the latest surveillance technology to obliterate their leaders. There are forty-eight assassinations that changed the world in this book. Rest assured that in the coming years we will see many more.
Assassins: The Story of Medieval Islam's Secret Sect
by W B BartlettThe so-called 'Assassins' are one of the most spectacular legends of medieval history. In the popular imagination they are drug-crazed fanatics who launched murderous attacks on their enemies, terrorising the medieval world. Since the tales of Marco Polo and others, the myths surrounding them have been fantastically embellished and the truth has become ever more obscure. Universally loathed and feared, they were especially frightening because they apparently had no fear of death. Bartlett's book deftly traces the origins of the sect out of the schisms within the early Islamic religion and examines the impact of Hasan-i-Sabbah, its founder, and Sinan - the legendary 'Old Man of the Mountain'. This popular history follows the vivid history of the group over the next two centuries, including its clash with the crusaders, its near destruction at the hands of the Mongols, and its subsequent history. Finally, and fascinatingly, we discover how the myths surrounding the Assassins have developed over time, and why indeed they continue to have such an impact on the popular imagination.
Assassins: Cold-blooded and Pre-meditated Killings that Shook the World
by Charlotte GreigBloody, violent, and sometimes spectacularly stage-managed, assassinations have become shocking landmarks in modern history, distinguished by their careful planning and cold-hearted detachment.Author Charlotte Greig explores some of the most notorious assassinations in history, looking in depth at the killers, their motives, and the impact the deaths of victims had on society. She investigates the controversies that have arisen where the killers' motives have been unclear or their ability to organize such a crime unaided has been questionable.From the assassinations of Rasputin, Franz Ferdinand, and John F. Kennedy to Gianni Versace, John Lennon, Benazir Bhutto, and Martin Luther King - along with near misses on Ronald Reagan, Andy Warhol, Margaret Thatcher, and Sergei Skripal - this fascinating book gives you the inside track on the drama, horror, and bloody aftermath of assassinations, some of which have changed the course of history.
The Assassins
by Bernard LewisFrom a master historian, the definitive account of history's first terroristsAn offshoot of the Ismaili Shi'ite sect of Islam, the Assassins were the first group to make systematic use of murder as a political weapon. Established in Iran and Syria in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, they aimed to overthrow the existing Sunni order in Islam and replace it with their own. They terrorized their foes with a series of dramatic murders of Islamic leaders, as well as of some of the Crusaders, who brought their name and fame back to Europe.Professor Lewis traces the history of this radical group, studying its teachings and its influence on Muslim thought. Particularly insightful in light of the rise of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and in Israel, this account of the Assassins--whose name is now synonymous with politically motivated murderers--places recent events in historical perspective and sheds new light on the fanatic mind.
The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam
by Bernard LewisThe history of an extremist Islamic sect in the 11th-12th centuries whose terrorist methods gave the English language a new word: assassin.The word 'Assassin' was brought back from Syria by the Crusaders, and in time acquired the meaning of murderer. Originally it was applied to the members of a Muslim religious sect - a branch of the Ismailis, and the followers of a leader known as the Old Man of the Mountain. Their beliefs and their methods made them a by-word for both fanaticism and terrorism in Syria and Persia in the 11th and 12th centuries, and the subject of a luxuriant growth of myth and legend.In this book, Bernard Lewis begins by tracing the development of these legends in medieval and modern Europe and the gradual percolation of accurate knowledge concerning the Ismailis. He then examines the origins and activities of the sect, on the basis of contemporary Persian and Arabic sources, and against the background of Middle Eastern and Islamic history. In a final chapter he discusses some of the political, social and economic implications of the Ismailis, and examines the significance of the Assassins in the history of revolutionary and terrorist movements.
The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln
by Kate Clifford LarsonIn The Assassin's Accomplice, historian Kate Clifford Larson tells the gripping story of Mary Surratt, a little-known participant in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln, and the first woman ever to be executed by the federal government of the United States. Surratt, a Confederate sympathizer, ran the boarding house in Washington where the conspirators-including her rebel son, John Surratt-met to plan the assassination. When a military tribunal convicted her for her crimes and sentenced her to death, five of the nine commissioners petitioned President Andrew Johnson to show mercy on Surratt because of her sex and age. Unmoved, Johnson refused-Surratt, he said, "kept the nest that hatched the egg.” Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, The Assassin's Accomplice tells the intricate story of the Lincoln conspiracy through the eyes of its only female participant. Based on long-lost interviews, confessions, and court testimony, the text explores how Mary's actions defied nineteenth-century norms of femininity, piety, and motherhood, leaving her vulnerable to deadly punishment historically reserved for men. A riveting narrative account of sex, espionage, and murder cloaked in the enchantments of Southern womanhood, The Assassin's Accomplice offers a fresh perspective on America's most famous murder.
The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln
by Kate Clifford LarsonIn The Assassin's Accomplice, historian Kate Clifford Larson tells the gripping story of Mary Surratt, a little-known participant in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln, and the first woman ever to be executed by the federal government of the United States. Surratt, a Confederate sympathizer, ran the boarding house in Washington where the conspirators-including her rebel son, John Surratt-met to plan the assassination. When a military tribunal convicted her for her crimes and sentenced her to death, five of the nine commissioners petitioned President Andrew Johnson to show mercy on Surratt because of her sex and age. Unmoved, Johnson refused-Surratt, he said, "kept the nest that hatched the egg." Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, The Assassin's Accomplice tells the intricate story of the Lincoln conspiracy through the eyes of its only female participant. Based on long-lost interviews, confessions, and court testimony, the text explores how Mary's actions defied nineteenth-century norms of femininity, piety, and motherhood, leaving her vulnerable to deadly punishment historically reserved for men. A riveting narrative account of sex, espionage, and murder cloaked in the enchantments of Southern womanhood, The Assassin's Accomplice offers a fresh perspective on America's most famous murder.
Assassins and Conspirators: Anarchism, Socialism, and Political Culture in Imperial Germany
by Elun GabrielOver the course of the German Empire the Social Democrats went from being a vilified and persecuted minority to becoming the largest party in the Reichstag, enjoying broad-based support. But this was not always the case. In the 1870s, government mouthpieces branded Social Democracy the "party of assassins and conspirators" and sought to excite popular fury against it. Over time, Social Democrats managed to refashion their public image in large part by contrasting themselves to anarchists, who came to represent a politics that went far beyond the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Social Democrats emphasized their overall commitment to peaceful change through parliamentary participation and a willingness to engage their political rivals. They condemned anarchist behavior—terrorism and other political violence specifically—and distanced themselves from the alleged anarchist personal characteristics of rashness, emotionalism, cowardice, and secrecy. Repeated public debate about the appropriate place of Socialism in German society, and its relationship to anarchist terrorism, helped Socialists and others, such as liberals, political Catholics, and national minorities, cement the principles of legal equality and a vigorous public sphere in German political culture.Using a diverse array of primary sources from newspapers and political pamphlets to Reichstag speeches to police reports on anarchist and socialist activity, this book sets the history of Social Democracy within the context of public political debate about democracy, the rule of law, and the appropriate use of state power. Gabriel also places the history of German anarchism in the larger contexts of German history and the history of European socialism, where its importance has often been understated because of the movement's small size and failure to create a long-term mass movement.
The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists
by Irene and Alan Taylor'A diary is an assassin's cloak which we wear when we stab a comrade in the back with a pen', wrote William Soutar in 1934. But a diary is also a place for recording everyday thoughts and special occasions, private fears and hopeful dreams. The Assassin's Cloak gathers together some of the most entertaining and inspiring entries for each day of the year, as writers ranging from Queen Victoria to Andy Warhol, Samuel Pepys to Adrian Mole, pen their musings on the historic and the mundane. Spanning centuries and international in scope, this peerless anthology pays tribute to a genre that is at once the most intimate and public of all literary forms. This new updated edition is published to mark the twentieth anniversary of the book's original publication.
Assassin's Creed - Escape Room Puzzle Book: Explore Assassin's Creed in an escape-room adventure
by James Hamer-Morton UbisoftThe Assassin's Creed Escape Room Puzzle Book is an exciting journey through history in which you must solve a series of puzzles and mysteries to save humanity. You are Joey, a museum worker who comes across a mysterious blade that sets in motion a chain of events that completely upends your life. Drawn into the world of the Assassins, you must tour through time and space – from 5th century BCE Greece to the catacombs of medieval Venice – in order to foil a malevolent Isu plot.Featuring characters and locations familiar to fans of the Assassin's Creed franchise and written by an experienced real-life escape-room creator, this immersive escape-room experience is both visually exciting and a difficult puzzle quest.Can you solve the conundrums and reveal the Isu plan in time to save the world?
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: The official novel of the highly anticipated new game
by Gordon DohertyGet ready for Odyssey: journey deeper in the world of Assassin's Creed in the official novel of the highly anticipated new game, coming October 2018.Greece, 5th century BCE. Kassandra is a mercenary of Spartan blood, sentenced to death by her family, cast out into exile. Now she will embark on an epic journey to become a legendary hero - and uncover the truth about her mysterious lineage.The Assassin's Creed novels have sold more than 1 million copies around the world, gaining almost 30,000 4 and 5 star reviews. See what readers are already saying about the series that lets you dive deeper into the world behind the highly acclaimed video game series:'A brilliant read' *****'I love this book' *****'Original and unique' *****'A brilliant accompaniment to the games' *****New Feature Information0
The Assassins' Gate (PDF): America in Iraq
by George PackerThe Assassins' Gate recounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a guerrilla war in Iraq. The consequences of that policy are shown in the author's vivid reporting on the ground in Iraq, where he made several tours on assignment for The New Yorker. We see up close the struggles of individual American soldiers and civilians and Iraqis from all backgrounds. Here is the full range of ideas and emotions stirred up by America's most controversial foreign-policy venture since Vietnam.
Assault Brigade: The 18th Australian Infantry Brigade in World War II (Australian Army History Series)
by null Matthew MillerThe Australian Army served in numerous theatres and campaigns throughout World War II, earning distinction and at times facing significant challenges. During the Pacific War, the infantry brigade, as an intermediate formation commanding multiple infantry battalions and numerous attached units, was key in Australian efforts to secure victory. The 18th Infantry Brigade participated in a variety of combat operations with a range of allies allowing it rare experience among Australian units. It's involvement in operations from Europe to the Middle East and onto the Pacific ensured that it was one of the most modern brigades at the close of the war. Assault Brigade examines the challenges and development of the Australian Army's 18th Infantry Brigade throughout World War II. It investigates a series of campaigns fought across the South West Pacific Area, highlighting lessons learnt and adaptations implemented as a result of each battle.
Assault From the Sky: The History of Airborne Warfare 1939–1980s (Osprey Digital Generals Ser.)
by John WeeksThe introduction of Airborne forces revolutionised military tactics and thinking throughout the twentieth century. In this exciting edition, ex-paratrooper John Weeks presents a history of the Airborne forces across the globe, studying the generals, the planners and parachutists, as well as the aircraft, gliders, weapons and helicopters, alongside a look at their background and their most famous actions, such as Crete, Arnhem, D-Day and the crossing the Rhine. Within each chapter Weeks presents a detailed analyses of the main airborne forces. Airborne raids caught popular imagination from early in the Second World War, when the Germans carried out daring and alarming raids. The assault is fast and dynamic, and most of all, unpredictable, which in the early 1940s led all participants of the war to develop airborne forces of their own.
Assault From the Sky: The History of Airborne Warfare 1939–1980s (Osprey Digital Ser.)
by John WeeksThe introduction of Airborne forces revolutionised military tactics and thinking throughout the twentieth century. In this exciting edition, ex-paratrooper John Weeks presents a history of the Airborne forces across the globe, studying the generals, the planners and parachutists, as well as the aircraft, gliders, weapons and helicopters, alongside a look at their background and their most famous actions, such as Crete, Arnhem, D-Day and the crossing the Rhine. Within each chapter Weeks presents a detailed analyses of the main airborne forces. Airborne raids caught popular imagination from early in the Second World War, when the Germans carried out daring and alarming raids. The assault is fast and dynamic, and most of all, unpredictable, which in the early 1940s led all participants of the war to develop airborne forces of their own.
The Assault Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-Time: Germany Before The Outbreak And England In War-time; A Personal Narrative (The World At War)
by Frederic WileExcerpt: "During the war I have lived in Germany, England and the United States--a week of it in Berlin, three months at different periods in America, and the rest of the time in London. My observations of Germany have not been confined to the six and a half days the Prussian police permitted me to tarry in their midst, for my work in London has dealt almost exclusively with day-by-day examination of that weird production which will be known to history as the German war-time Press. I am quite sure the perspective of the life and times of the Kaiser's people in their "great hour" was clearer from the vantage-ground of a newspaper desk near the Thames embankment than it could possibly have been had it been my lot to view the Fatherland at war as an observer writing, under the hypnotic influence of mass-suggestion, of Germany from within."
The Assault on International Law
by Jens David OhlinInternational law presents a conceptual riddle. Why comply with it when there is no world government to enforce it? The United States has a long history of skepticism towards international law, but 9/11 ushered in a particularly virulent phase of American exceptionalism, as the US drifted away from international institutions and conventions. Although American politicians and their legal advisors are often the public face of this attack, the root of this movement is a coordinated and deliberate attack by law professors hostile to its philosophical foundations, including Eric Posner, Jack Goldsmith, Adrian Vermeule, and John Yoo. In a series of influential writings, they have claimed that since states are motivated primarily by self-interest, compliance with international law is nothing more than high-minded talk. These abstract arguments provide a foundation for dangerous legal conclusions: that international law is largely irrelevant to determining how and when terrorists can be captured or killed; that the US President alone should be directing the War on Terror without significant input from Congress or the judiciary; that US courts should not hear lawsuits alleging violations of international law; and that the US should block any international criminal court with jurisdiction over Americans. These polemical accounts have ultimately triggered America's pernicious withdrawal from international cooperation. In The Assault on International Law, Jens David Ohlin exposes the mistaken assumptions of these "New Realists," in particular their impoverished utilization of rational choice theory. In contrast, he provides an alternate vision of international law based on an innovative theory of human rationality. According to Ohlin, rationality requires that agents follow through on their plans and commitments even when faced with opportunities for defection, as long as the original plan was beneficial for the agent. Seen in the light of this planning theory of rational agency, international law is the product of nation-states cooperating to escape a brutish State of Nature-a result that is not only legally binding but also in each state's self-interest.
The Assault on International Law
by Jens David OhlinInternational law presents a conceptual riddle. Why comply with it when there is no world government to enforce it? The United States has a long history of skepticism towards international law, but 9/11 ushered in a particularly virulent phase of American exceptionalism, as the US drifted away from international institutions and conventions. Although American politicians and their legal advisors are often the public face of this attack, the root of this movement is a coordinated and deliberate attack by law professors hostile to its philosophical foundations, including Eric Posner, Jack Goldsmith, Adrian Vermeule, and John Yoo. In a series of influential writings, they have claimed that since states are motivated primarily by self-interest, compliance with international law is nothing more than high-minded talk. These abstract arguments provide a foundation for dangerous legal conclusions: that international law is largely irrelevant to determining how and when terrorists can be captured or killed; that the US President alone should be directing the War on Terror without significant input from Congress or the judiciary; that US courts should not hear lawsuits alleging violations of international law; and that the US should block any international criminal court with jurisdiction over Americans. These polemical accounts have ultimately triggered America's pernicious withdrawal from international cooperation. In The Assault on International Law, Jens David Ohlin exposes the mistaken assumptions of these "New Realists," in particular their impoverished utilization of rational choice theory. In contrast, he provides an alternate vision of international law based on an innovative theory of human rationality. According to Ohlin, rationality requires that agents follow through on their plans and commitments even when faced with opportunities for defection, as long as the original plan was beneficial for the agent. Seen in the light of this planning theory of rational agency, international law is the product of nation-states cooperating to escape a brutish State of Nature-a result that is not only legally binding but also in each state's self-interest.
The Assault on Liberty: What Went Wrong With Rights
by Dominic RaabAn urgent and necessary polemic on the government’s assault on our fundamental freedoms and the proliferation of Human Rights.
The Assault on Reason: Our Information Ecosystem, from the Age of Print to the Era of Trump (Thorndike Basic Ser.)
by Al GoreNow with a New Preface and Conclusion: 'Post-Truth: On Donald Trump and the 2016 Election' The United States of America is in the midst of a deepening crisis for their democracy. After the strangest election cycle in modern American history it is important that the grave threats to the American way of life that were glaringly revealed in this campaign are addressed. In The Assault on Reason, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Vice President Al Gore examines how faith in the power of reason – the idea that citizens can govern themselves through rational debate – is in peril. Democracy depends on a well-informed citizenry and a two-way conversation about ideas, but the public sphere has been degraded by fake news and the politics of fear, partisanship and blind faith. Now updated to investigate the rise of Trump and post-truth politics, The Assault on Reason is a farsighted and powerful manifesto for clear thinking, crucial if the vitality of democracy is to be rebuilt and good decisions made once more.
Assault on Sicily: Monty and Patton at War
by Ken FordThe campaign that defined the progress of the Second World War - and sowed the seeds of rivalry between these two key Allied commanders.