Books
Mel Ayton: Review of Paul Donnelley's Assassins and Assassinations: History’s Most Infamous Plots (New Holland Publishers)
Source: Special to HNN (7-31-08)
[Mr. Ayton is the author of books and articles on the JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King Jr assassinations. The paperback edition of his latest book, The Forgotten Terrorist was published in May 2008.]
Paul Donnelley has done an extremely painstaking research job and he leaves no doubt in the minds of the reader as to the how and the why of the major assassinations in world history. His breadth of research and insight, which provides a vivid account of the psychological make-up of the assassin whether mentally deranged or politically motivated, is remarkable. Additionally, Donnelly has left the reader in no doubt as to whether or not a particular assassination really changed history.
As Donnelley makes clear the motives of the actors and the efficacy of assassination as a ‘political tool’ vary widely throughout history. In this compelling study the author reveals the strange and complex world of the assassin and shows the shocking ease in which psychopathic, professional or personal assassins can carry out their appalling act of murder, sometimes with devastating effect on the societies they attacked. He has also shown how assassination in many parts of the world has not only been a normal and rational political act but has often been effective in the transference of power.
From the Wolf’s Lair of Hitler’s ‘1000-year Empire’ to the inner sanctums of the Kremlin, from the murderous world of organized crime to the political plotting of American and European anarchist groups and Islamic jihadists, assassins have attempted to change the course of history. Donnelley delineates the sinister history of this common and deadly profession with dozens of cases - chosen for their pertinence to world events and the effect they had on the society of the day. Particularly interesting are those cases which are usually not found in books about this subject, including Hitler’s would-be assassin Johann Georg Elser and Michael Collins’ assassin, Denis O’Neill.
His book is triumphant in two ways. The first triumph is stylistic. Unlike similar books on the subject Donnelley writes with authority but does not tire the reader with turgid prose. The second triumph is ethical. Donnelley does not allow himself to pander to the constant harpings of conspiracy theorists who see every American assassination as an act of government betrayal. Instead, Donnelley focuses clearly on the facts and treats speculative accounts as nothing more than the efforts of the conspiracy-minded who always prevent facts from interfering with their prejudices.
Donnelley’s chapters on the American assassinations of the 1960s, from the murder of JFK to the assassinations of RFK and Martin Luther King, are particularly insightful and enthralling as the author strips away the misunderstood evidence in these cases which have underpinned most conspiracy theorizing. Other chapters provide insight on the assassinations of Julius Ceasar, Thomas A Beckett, Jean-Paul Marrat, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Grigori Rasputin, Leon Trotsky, Earl Mountbatten, Albert Anastasia, Reinhard Heydrich, Che Guevara, Benazir Bhutto, Indira Ghandi and Franz Ferdinand and the attempted assassinations of Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II. Thus, his carefully crafted book offers the reader a wide range of personalities, motives and circumstances in which to learn about this most shocking of crimes.
Accordingly, this book should be required reading for any student of contemporary international politics as well as the general reader who wants to learn more about the underlying fanaticism that provokes some individuals to practise this extreme form of ‘censorship’.
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