Awful End of Prince William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Handgun

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.

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 a 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.

The Washington Post - William See

These guns, so quick, so appealing, so lethal! They or those like them did away with Abraham Lincoln, Medgar Evers, the Kennedy brothers, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon and thousands and thousands of ordinary storekeepers, unloved spouses and gangsters. These guns perfectly suit our murderous tendencies and also our senses of bravery, honor, bravado and fun. They're the ultimate democratic weapon: The poorest of us may own one, the most powerful of us may perish from its use. Jardine keeps perfect control over her material, while urging us to look at traditional history in a whole new way. I was absolutely charmed by this book, up to and including the shivering, barelegged nobleman with his goose bumps and his fancy-schmancy wheel-lock pistol.

Lisa 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.