Day of the Assassins: A History of Political Murder

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'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 In Day of the Assassins, acclaimed historian Michael Burleigh examines assassination as a special category of political violence and asks whether, like a contagious disease, it can be catching. Focusing chiefly on the last century and a half, Burleigh takes readers 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, Juvnal Habyarimana, Indira Gandhi, Yitzhak Rabin and Jamal Khashoggi. 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.

Reviews

Day of the Assassins is written with Burleighs 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 Burleighs Day of the Assassins reminds us that political murder is as old as mankind . . . The detail, as always in Burleighs 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 . . . Burleighs analysis of Putins 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

Relentlessly sanguinary . . . harshly excellent.

Author Bio

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 and, most recently, The Best of Times, The Worst of Times. 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.