Promotional Information

A brilliantly detailed and gripping account of the assassination in 1584 of Prince William of Orange, and the shockwaves it sent through an age. / This book is a brief, beautiful, small-format hardback, which will attract serious review coverage. / Lisa Jardine is an extremely highly respected, high-profile figure in the media and one of the UK's foremost historical biographers. / Review and feature coverage anticipated.

About the Author

Lisa Jardine is Professor of Renaissance Studies at QMW, London and honorary fellow of King's College, Cambridge. She writes regularly for the UK's major national newspapers in addition to appearing on many arts/history programmes for TV and radio. She has judged the Whitbread Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and was chair of the 1997 Orange Prize. Her previous books include On a Grander Scale and The Curious Life of Robert Hooke. She is married with three children and lives in London.

Reviews

Praise for On A Grander Scale (2002): 'A wonderful book which looks set to be the definitive life of Wren for a long time to come' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday 'A full and fascinating biography' Antonia Fraser, New Statesman 'Jardine!has made important archival discoveries!her prose sparkles.' Sunday Telegraph For The Curious Life of Robert Hooke (2003): 'Lisa Jardine is a new star on England's literary and historical scene. She has a gift, which so few historians possess, of making the past seem relevant to our own times.' Paul Johnson

Praise for On A Grander Scale (2002): 'A wonderful book which looks set to be the definitive life of Wren for a long time to come' Kathryn Hughes, Mail on Sunday 'A full and fascinating biography' Antonia Fraser, New Statesman 'Jardine!has made important archival discoveries!her prose sparkles.' Sunday Telegraph For The Curious Life of Robert Hooke (2003): 'Lisa Jardine is a new star on England's literary and historical scene. She has a gift, which so few historians possess, of making the past seem relevant to our own times.' Paul Johnson

William the Silent may be an obscure name for many readers, but his assassination in 1584, at close range with a handgun, is still remembered in the Netherlands as a key event in the long Dutch struggle for independence from Spain. Born to a German family, William inherited a French principality and was raised under the tutelage of the Catholic Emperor Charles V, yet became the "father" of Netherlands Protestant national identity. Jardine (The Curious Life of Robert Hooke) places the assassination within the era's religious turmoil and espionage systems, arguing for its deep repercussions for security, diplomacy and warfare. Her scholarship is broad, as she dissects William's lasting reputation for tolerance as a product of the writings of his supporters and traces the technology, uses and symbolism of the wheel-lock pistol used to kill him. With modern references including 9/11, fatwahs and Tupac Shakur, Jardine demonstrates the pervasiveness of the issues raised both by this type of weapon and by responses to crimes of state. Some readers might wish for a more narrative approach to such a potentially riveting story, but they will enjoy this marvelous study of a single event and its numerous echoes. (Feb. 7) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.