The author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A Brief History of
Humankind looks at covert operations and assassination plots in the
medieval period, matching anything to be found in our own era.
Alongside the familiar pitched battles, regular sieges, and large-scale
manoeuvres, medieval and early modern wars also involved assassination,
abduction, treason and sabotage. These undercover operations were aimed
chiefly against key individuals, mostly royalty or the leaders of the
opposing army, and against key fortified places, including bridges,
mills and dams. However, because of their clandestine nature, these
deeds of "derring-do" have not been studied in any detail, a major gap
which this book fills. It surveys a wide variety of special operations,
from the eleventh to the sixteenth century. It then analyzes in greater
depth six select and exciting operations: the betrayal of Antioch in
1098; the attempt to rescue King Baldwin II from the dungeon of
Khartpert in 1123; the assassination of Conrad of Montferrat in 1192;
the attempt to storm Calais in 1350; the "dirty war" waged by the rulers
of France and Burgundy in the 1460s and 1470s; and the demolition of the
flour mill of Auriol in 1536.
"A portrait of espionage, covert operations, assassination squads, and
the deep penetration of seemingly invulnerable fortresses or security
systems matching anything to be found in the war stories of the modern
era." MATTHEW BENNETT, SANDHURST.
Professor YUVAL NOAH HARARI teaches at the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, and is the author of the international bestseller Sapiens: A
Brief History of Humankind.
