assassination
How much would your family stump up for your ransom?
Researching The Price of Life, Jenny Kleeman interviews Stephen Collet, who describes haggling for a year with the Somali pirates who kidnapped his sister in October 2009
Who planned Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson’s murder?
Until very recently, political assassination was a mercifully uncommon occurrence in British politics, though that has changed. Previously when such…
‘It was all a fairy tale’: Lina Heydrich’s description of the Holocaust
There have been many biographies of Reinhard Heydrich, the cold, cynical head of the SS in the Third Reich, but…
After Aberfan, clairvoyants had a field day
In the wake of catastrophe, however random or unpredictable, one of the first things people can be relied upon to…
Lasting infamy: Booth, by Karen Joy Fowler, reviewed
Were it not for an event on the night of 14 April 1865, John Wilkes Booth would be remembered, if…
Ahmad Shah Massoud was Afghanistan’s best hope
Ahmed Shah Massoud was described as ‘the Afghan who won the Cold War’. While famous in France (he was educated…
Why Haiti's president was assassinated
There was a time when Haiti was at the centre of the New World. It was one of the richest…
The ruthless politics of Pakistan — and the curse of being a Bhutto
Hours after Benazir Bhutto arrived back in Pakistan on 18 October 2007, two bombs exploded near the bullet-proof truck carrying…
Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination was one of the century’s blackest farces
The story of Jamal Khashoggi’s death is well known. A prominent Saudi journalist, he walked into his nation’s consulate in…
Why have the Swedes been incapable of finding Olof Palme’s murderer?
Any Swede old enough to remember knows where they were when their prime minister Olof Palme was assassinated. On 28…
The age of chivalry was an age of devilry
Agatha Christie’s spirit must be loving this poisonous new historical entertainment. Eleanor Herman has already enjoyed the success of Sex…
Why didn’t they try harder to assassinate Hitler?
Awareness of German opposition to Hitler is usually limited to Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg’s attempt to blow up the wretched…
The Shape of the Ruins, by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, reviewed
What makes Colombia remind me of Ireland? It’s not only the soft rain that falls from grey skies on the…
Florence's black Medici prince: a drama worthy of Shakespeare
The life – and violent death – of a very unusual Renaissance prince has Alex von Tunzelmann enthralled
Liars, stalkers and snipers populate in the latest crime novels
We fully expect con artists to be caught in a sting themselves, but even with that thought constantly in mind…
The American who dreamed of peace for the Arabs – but was murdered in their midst
‘Arabist’ is fast becoming an archaism. Perhaps it is already one. These days the word conjures up enchanting visions of…
The many attempts to assassinate Trotsky
Leon Trotsky’s grandson, Esteban Volkov, is a retired chemist in his early eighties. I met him not long ago in…
The wounded Kennedy – and the people who gave him strength
Ten years ago, a determined historian transformed our picture of John F. Kennedy. Robert Dallek had finally got his hands…
Taki: Why JFK wouldn't have steered clear of Vietnam if he had lived
Everyone’s doing it, so I might as well jump in too. After all, I knew so many of the people…
