- Paperback: 480 pages
- Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (July 1 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0737301325
- ISBN-13: 978-0737301328
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.3 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 649 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,268,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
Laucella, a former editor and employee in the Ohio governor's office, here surveys, case by celebrated case, the political killings that have punctuated the period from 990 B.C.E. to 1995. Crime references of more general wrongdoing, such as Jay Robert Nash's classic Bloodletters & Badmen (LJ 5/1/73), can make for excellent browsing as they mix grisly murders with train-robbing adventures and confidence schemes. The present volume is a more dispiriting read whose sections on remoter assassinations often seem more solid than the chapters on recent familiar murders. Part of Laucella's interest in reviewing history's "most fascinating assassination plots" seems to be in entertaining alternative scenarios. In the cases of Huey Long, John and Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Yitzak Rabin, and the 1972 attempt on George Wallace, Laucella leaves the door open for various unproven conspiracies, often relying on dubious sources like Jim Garrison's On the Trail of the Assassins (1988), which inspired Oliver Stone's JFK. An ambitious but disappointing book that does not supplant previous efforts such as Harris Lentz III's Assassinations and Executions: An Encyclopedia of Political Violence, 1865-1986 (McFarland, 1988). Not an essential purchase.ANathan Ward, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
From the Bible's King David to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Laucella gathers information on 66 of the world's most fascinating assassinations and unsuccessful attempts. 48 photos.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Typos galore,
By Yarby "yarby" (Medina, OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Assassination: The Politics of Murder (Paperback)
The format and the topic could have made for an excellent book. However, the number of typos in the book makes one consider whether to believe the facts as they are stated. According to the book, JFK began campaigning for president in 1970 (pg. 295); Guissepe Zangara left Chicago on December 21, 1932, and by February 15, 1932 had not returned even once (pg. 129)....I could go on, but it is very difficult to take serious any facts in a book so strewn with errors. I don't know who was more careless...Ms. Laucella, or the proofreaders responsible for letting this book go to press.Frankly, Ms. Laucella should be ashamed to have such a sloppy work on the market with her name on it.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Politics by yet another means,
By "m_peror07" (Knoxville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Assassination: The Politics of Murder (Paperback)
Very well documented account of assassinations throughout history, although there is more of an emphasis on the past century than other eras. Each assassination is presented in a (usually) tiny chapter with the life of the victim, the life of the assassin, and the ramifications of the victim's demise. What I liked best was the lives and motivations of the assassins themselves, since as the previous reviewer said not all of them are crazy. I generally prefered reading about the pre-20th century assassinations, but that's probably because I enjoy history too much. Another thing I liked about the book is that you get a brief history of early 20th century Mexico, since nearly all the leaders of the Mexican civil war were assassinating each other.The only downside to me is that Laucella tends to dwell on certain assassinations much longer than others. There may be 3 pages on the co-founder of the Guiness Book of World Records but there is 40 on Medgar Evers. I'm also not sure I liked the "assassination attempts". They weren't actually assassinated, why are they here? But on the whole I would recommend this book to anyone interested enough in the grisly history of a darker side of politics.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit on the dry side,
By Andrea Egger, author of Grave Accusations (Gallup, NM USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Assassination: The Politics of Murder (Paperback)
A bit on the dry side, but a fascinating look at assassinations in just about every context imaginable. The author has definitely done her homework, and presents the material in a fine writing style, although she could add more life to the details.People who think that presidential and other assassinations just were perpetrated by nutty people need to look deeper into our own political structure, as she suggests. Politics dates back far in the assassination of the world's political leaders. Terrific research and a well-presented work.
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