Assassinations shake the world. They are a major threat to political stability – and they always have been. They shock society to its foundations. The assassins may be political activists, rivals, idealists, social campaigners or cold-blooded hitmen. Some are genuinely altruistic, seeking the salvation of their country; some are ruthless power-grabbing self-promoters; some are pathetic inadequates who want to destroy someone more successful than themselves; some simply want notoriety. Assassinations and Conspiracies tells the stories of the most notorious assassinations in history, detailing the victims, the assassins, the motives for the murders, the consequences – and the theories that have been put forward about the conspiracies that surround them.