THE AWFUL END OF PRINCE WILLIAM THE SILENT. The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Handgun

Hardback. In this innovative work of history the author shows how the first killing by handgun of a head of state had a profound effect on the course of history. The shooting of Prince William of Orange by a French Catholic in 1584 had immediate political consequences: it was a serious setback for the Protestant cause in the Netherlands, as its forces fought for independence from the Catholic rule of the Hapsburg Empire. But, as the author demonstrates, its implications for those in positions of power were even more far-reaching, as the assassination heralded the arrival of a lethal new threat to the security of nations - a pistol that could be concealed on one's person and used to deadly means at point-blank range. Queen Elizabeth I, Williams's close Protestant ally, was devasted by his death and, as the object of assassination plots herself, was thrown into panic. The English parliament soon enacted legislation making it an offence to bring a pistol anywhere near a royal palace. Elizabeth's terror was not misplaced. As the author observes, William's assassination was the first in a long and bloody line that would include the murders of President Lincoln in 1865 and Archduke Ferdinand in 1914 - a terror that is all too relevant today. Illus., Appendices, Notes, Further Reading and Index. 175pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true-crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. With small black 'remainder' mk. to lower edge, o/w Nr. F. in f. dw.