The Assassins
Subtitle: a radical sect in Islam
By: Bernard Lewis.
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 166
Subjects: Assassins (Ismailites)
Description: "The Assassins is a comprehensive, accessible, and authoritative account of history's first terrorists. An offshoot of the Ismaili Shi'ite sect of Islam, the Assassins were the first group to make systematic use of murder as a political weapon.

Established in Iran and Syria in the 11th and 12th centuries, they aimed to overthrow the existing Sunni order in Islam and replace it with their own, by terrorizing their foes with a series of dramatic murders of Islamic leaders, as well as some of the Crusaders, who brought their name and fame back to Europe.".

"Professor Lewis traces the history of this radical Islamic sect, studying its teachings and its influence on Muslim thought. Particularly insightful in light of the rise of the terrorist attacks in the US and in Israel, this account of the group that lent its name to politically motivated murder places recent events in historical perspective and sheds new light on the fanatic mind."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references  (p. [141]-160) and index.
"With a new preface by the author"--Cover.
Reprint. Originally published: New York : Basic Books, 1968, c1967.