Overview

A deeply researched history of assassination in the modern world, from Franz Ferdinand to Osama bin Laden Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Leon Trotsky, Reinhard Heydrich, Mahatma Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Osama bin Laden, Qasem Soleimani: assassination—the murder of a specific individual by an organised conspiracy in pursuit of political ends—has rarely failed to grip the imagination. In this incisive new history, Simon Ball shows how targeted political murder has become a tool of democratic states but also a key strategy of those who wish to topple them. Ball introduces us to the techniques of assassination and those who wield them, as well as the security regimes that have developed to prevent this violent practice. From the First World War and the age of empire to terrorism and the development of pilotless drones, Death to Order places assassination at the heart of modern political history—and shows how it continues to impact our world.

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9780300258042

Table of Contents

Reviews

“Ball cautions against focusing too much on the assassins or even their victims. . . . His thrust is political: to examine how assassination functions as an instrument, and how states’ reactions to assassination shape its use.”—Dan Piepenbring, Harper’s Magazine “A fascinating exploration of political murder and the efforts to prevent it, written with insight and based on extensive research. Not bedtime reading.”—David Reynolds, author of Mirrors of Greatness “From Gavrilo Princip to drones, Ball’s is an extremely erudite history of assassination. Weaving together different strands of scholarship, he brilliantly elucidates both the assassinations themselves, and their social and cultural repercussions.”—Luca Trenta, author of The President’s Kill List “A lastingly important subject, analysed here with admirable skill, scholarship, flair and accessibility. A vivid and powerful book.”—Richard English, author of Does Counter-Terrorism Work? “Death to Order is a masterpiece of international history. Simon Ball wears his great learning lightly, but the new research is prodigious and could hardly be more necessary. As contemporary events keep reminding us, this is a story for our times.”—Richard Aldous, author of Reagan and Thatcher

“A fascinating exploration of political murder and the efforts to prevent it, written with insight and based on extensive research. Not bedtime reading.”—David Reynolds, author of Mirrors of Greatness “From Gavrilo Princip to drones, Ball’s is an extremely erudite history of assassination. Weaving together different strands of scholarship, he brilliantly elucidates both the assassinations themselves, and their social and cultural repercussions.”—Luca Trenta, author of The President’s Kill List “A lastingly important subject, analysed here with admirable skill, scholarship, flair and accessibility. A vivid and powerful book.”—Richard English, author of Does Counter-Terrorism Work? “Death to Order is a masterpiece of international history. Simon Ball wears his great learning lightly, but the new research is prodigious and could hardly be more necessary. As contemporary events keep reminding us, this is a story for our times.”—Richard Aldous, author of Reagan and Thatcher

Author Information

Simon Ball is professor of international history and politics at the University of Leeds. He is the author of six acclaimed books, including Secret History, The Bitter Sea, and The Guardsmen.

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