Assassination

Throughout history the desire by man to change the course of political history through the act of murder has been strong. In some instances the assassination of a prominent person for political purposes has achieved a short-term result; with several the results have been the complete opposite of what was hoped for; and in the long-term, some have been utter failures. Miles Hudson examines a range of political assassinations to establish whether or not these acts achieved their political aims. He touches on the question of whether the course of history can be determined by individuals and if so, to what extent. He also asks whether individual leaders are merely the result, and not the cause, of political evolution. His narrative ranges from historical examples like Julius Caesar, Thomas a Becket and Marat, through to famous 20th-century victims of assassination including Rasputin, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Yitzhak Rabin.