The assassination of Prince William of Orange by a French Catholic in 1584 had immediate political consequences and a profound effect on the course of history. It was a serious setback for Protestants in the Netherlands, who were struggling for independence from the Catholic rule of the Hapsburg Empire. But the crime's ramifications were even more earth-shattering, for it heralded the arrival of a new threat to the safety of world leaders and the security of nations: a pistol that could easily be concealed on one's person and employed to lethal effect at point-blank range.
In this provocative, fascinating, and enormously engaging work, noted author and historian Lisa Jardine brilliantly recounts the brazen act of religious terrorism that changed everything--and explores its long and bloody legacy, from the murder of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 to the slaying of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, to the plague of terror and violent zealotry that infects our world today.
--Washington PostThe assassination of Prince William of Orange by a French Catholic in 1584 had immediate political consequences and a profound effect on the course of history. It was a serious setback for Protestants in the Netherlands, who were struggling for independence from the Catholic rule of the Hapsburg Empire. But the crime's ramifications were even more earth-shattering, for it heralded the arrival of a new threat to the safety of world leaders and the security of nations: a pistol that could easily be concealed on one's person and employed to lethal effect at point-blank range.
In this provocative, fascinating, and enormously engaging work, noted author and historian Lisa Jardine brilliantly recounts the brazen act of religious terrorism that changed everything--and explores its long and bloody legacy, from the murder of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 to the slaying of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, to the plague of terror and violent zealotry that infects our world today.
--Washington PostLisa Jardine, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, is the director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters, the centenary professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She lives with her husband and three children in London.
"Brisk and splendidly told . . . Jardine's book is popular narrative at its best--quick, sure, detailed and broadly entertaining." -- Newsday"[A] marvelous study of a single event and its numerous echoes." -- Publishers Weekly"Brief, pithy and fascinating... Jardine does justice to an intriguing topic, and the book reads as scholarly without being pedantic." -- Omaha World-Herald"A lively account of an important historical turning point . . . Thorough and well written." -- Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)"A fascinating, amusing, scholarly little book... I was absolutely charmed by this book." -- Washington Post"Jardine writes with fluid precision and offers many dashes of historical color." -- Wall Street Journal"Nobody can explain factual history more clearly than Jardine, but the best part of this book concerns more abstract implications." -- Jan Morris, The Times (London)"A fascinating account... Deftly and efficiently places this event in the political, religious, social, and cultural context of its times." -- Library Journal
William I, Prince of Orange (1533-84), known as William the Silent, was a German-born Dutch statesman who, raised a Catholic by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, converted to Protestantism, drove Spain out of the Netherlands, and is credited thus as the founder of Dutch independence. Jardine (Renaissance studies, Queen Mary University, London; The Curious Life of Robert Hooke), seeing that William I is little known in history books outside of Holland, has provided a fascinating account of his place in history: he was the first head of state to be assassinated by a person able to approach him at point-blank range with a concealed and primed weapon, an act that struck terror into the hearts of other heads of state, especially his Protestant ally Queen Elizabeth I. Jardine deftly and efficiently places this event in the political, religious, social, and cultural context of its times. Illustrations, a map, and a genealogical table, together with endnotes make it a worthy study. Her final summary, using Bob Dylan lyrics as the epigraph, ponders the handgun violence that permeates the world today. Recommended for history and handgun sections in public and academic libraries.-Br. Benet Exton, St. Gregory's Univ., Shawnee, OK Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
"Brisk and splendidly told . . . Jardine's book is popular narrative at its best--quick, sure, detailed and broadly entertaining." -- Newsday"[A] marvelous study of a single event and its numerous echoes." -- Publishers Weekly"Brief, pithy and fascinating... Jardine does justice to an intriguing topic, and the book reads as scholarly without being pedantic." -- Omaha World-Herald"A lively account of an important historical turning point . . . Thorough and well written." -- Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)"A fascinating, amusing, scholarly little book... I was absolutely charmed by this book." -- Washington Post"Jardine writes with fluid precision and offers many dashes of historical color." -- Wall Street Journal"Nobody can explain factual history more clearly than Jardine, but the best part of this book concerns more abstract implications." -- Jan Morris, The Times (London)"A fascinating account... Deftly and efficiently places this event in the political, religious, social, and cultural context of its times." -- Library Journal
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