This is primarily because he considers fanaticism, and the impulse to murder prominent leaders that seems to come with it, to be a fundamentally doomed proposition. Furthermore, Hudson suggests that most significant historical figures inspire envy and hatred in their own ranks at the same rate as admiration and loyalty. This is especially evident in the case of Malcolm X, who, Hudson argues, somewhat controversially but without a hint of equivocation was assassinated by his enemies in the Nation of Islam. No one is going to come away from this book with the sense that assassination is a good idea, and that's the way Hudson wants it. Maybe if the British or Germans had managed to eliminate Hitler, World War II would have ended early and millions would have been spared.
Assassination is the gasoline of history.
Throw it on the fire and the fire blazes more brightly, more dangerously, for a brief period. Matthew DeBord is a contributing editor at Feed. Cover up with a Salon T-shirt this summer. See the trailers before you see the movie. A brilliant and quirky new book on Alzheimer's offers food for thought on the unthinkable and a new, deeper understanding of the coming epidemic.