Assassins' deeds - John Withington

Assassins have been murdering the powerful and famous for at least 4,000 years. At first, the most common reason was personal ambition, and the perpetrators were often close family, like the Turkish sultan who had nineteen of his brothers strangled. More recent motives include religion and political ideology.
For centuries, methods changed little - stabbing, poison, strangling. All required getting right up to the target, and even when firearms appeared, assassins usually preferred the handgun at close quarters to the sniper's rifle. And many victims were surprisingly careless: Abraham Lincoln had let his bodyguard go for a drink.
So does assassination work? Assassins' Deeds delves into some of history's most notorious acts, unveiling an intriguing cast of characters, nail-biting drama and many unintended consequences.