Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This book did a fantastic job of showcasing some of the most well assassinations throughout history. There are 48 assassinations highlighted from political leaders to journalists and lawyers. A very well researched book.

An interesting exploration of lives cut short for political or religious reasons, starting in the year 2020 and going all the way back to 44 BC, although most profiles are from modern times. Eight of the 48 victims are from the 1960s alone. Each have a few pages of background as well as the descriptions of the circumstances of assassination. It is interesting to imagine how history might have changed had these attempts been unsuccessful.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Assassinations that Changed the World covers a significant amount of ground. The book is a good introduction to a broad range of assassinations, although if you are looking for in-depth coverage, look elsewhere. That simply isn’t the scope of this book. The author covers the facts in a fair amount of detail. For instance, Jamal Kashoggi’s brutal murder is rarely cover in much detail, but Cawthorne covers it in more detail than most Westerners have heard. He also connects a lot of dots that give the reader greater perspective on Kashoggi.

That said, with a well-known assassination like that of RFK, there isn’t anything new here. However, Cawthorne does at least point out that there is some evidence for a second gun man in the JFK assassination but doesn’t get into distracted speculation. There have been dozens of books that cover different theories and Cawthorne, no doubt, was aware of that and understood that was well beyond the scope of his purpose here. While there are no revelations about the Lennon assassination, I really did appreciate the detail. For instance, Mark Chapman was so engrossed in The Catcher in the Rye that he didn’t even see John Lennon enter the Dakota building.

All in all, readers should understand that Cawthorne is trying to provide an introduction to a broad range of important assassinations. They’ll need to look elsewhere to go in-depth, but this is an excellent introduction.

An interesting read of the assassination of 48 influential figures in history. The author does a great job of telling about the life of both the individual and the person who killed them The author also attempts to explain hat the impact was regarding the death of the individual.

Interesting read about the assassinations that changed the world. I enjoyed the fact the cases that were chosen were coming from different eras.
It reads easily, however, sometimes, I would say there is an overwhelming amount of detail in some chapters.

Thank you to Ad Lib Publishers and Netgalley for the arc of this book by Nigel Cawthorne.

This was such an interesting and compelling read, this was such a great read as I love learning about historic events etc so knew when i saw about assassinations which changed the world i had to read it! I read this so quick as it was so interesting!!

5 stars!!

Okayish read. I liked that they chose assassinations from every time and corner of the world, but I did not knew most of them. The writing was boring from time to time, but as a fan of crime novells and true crime stories, I used to worse. Not great, but not bad either and largly entertaining.

I received a free ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I love to learn about assassinations – and conspiracies. Since many assassinations result from conspiracies, I was very interested in reading this when I saw it available on Net Galley.


The book starts with the most recent assassinations and goes backward in time from there. The first two items on the list are an Iranian government official and Osama Bin Laden. Since both of these were international terrorists killed by military strikes, I believe they are more casualties of war rather than assassination victims. There are over 40 assassinations covered, and most of them are covered in a very interesting 7-8 page capsule.

I gave Assassinations That Changed the World four stars on Goodreads. The main criticism I have that kept it from the fifth star was that many of the descriptions of assassinations occurring prior to 1800 were hard to track because the volume of information presented was difficult to keep track of.

I love books like this, I like the mystery, intrigue, the speculation and “what ifs”. The book covered 48 of the most week know and a few of the lesser known assassinations.

I have read a few books by this author now and I do like his writing style. This book was punchy in its approach and the chapter lengths were spot on for me, if you want to read up more on a topic you can go away and look that up.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, great for fans of true crime!

This was a great insight into some very important assassinations that truly changed the way the world works. There was some I'd never heard of and some more recent than I even realised. I wish it was in oldest to current order rather than the other way round but other than that it was great!

An interesting compilation of 48 famous world figures who were assassinated. The stories are a great explanation of the life of the individual as well as the individual who performed the deed. The author also explains the impact and consequences the death of the individual had. A great read for those who enjoy history.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Not a big fan of this book. It felt like a chore to read and was certain I would DNF, so making it through was a surprise. I feel like the chapters sit at the uncomfortable length, where they don't give enough detail and they drag on for a bit too long despite being only six pages each.

this book was really informative and well-written, you could tell that the author knew what they were talking about. It was a really interesting read.

This book was a provocative look inside the assassinations of our beloved leaders who could of changed the world for the better and did change the world in some way . Very good book

It is a history book that strings together epic events where one group of humans exterminated a person who was good or bad or controversial for their own interests or misplaced faiths.
It tells stories of big assassinations in a movie like easily graspable prose. It describes 48 assassination over 10 centuries with accompanying circumstances, backgrounds and aftermaths.
It starts from 2019 and runs backwards. It would have been Even more intriguing if it contained pictures.
It has wide base and almost all main countries appear in the book.
It is a cohesive presentation of all events that unfold around these acts which sometimes appear correct and most of the times wrong.
But these happen all the time even if we stop counting them.
I could connect with recent events more clearly than very old ones.
A very readable and informative book that is easily recommend.

I was attracted to this book because of certain of the figures I knew were featured, and I was even more interested after I received it and saw other assassinations in the book, like Benazir Bhutto and Malcolm X, both figures whom I greatly admire. I was intrigued to read about Jamal Khashoggi's death, for he was a well known journalist in Saudi Arabia while I was a puny little freelancer in Saudi Arabia trying to make a buck to buy toys for my kids. I had not known that the dissident's grandfather, Mohammad Khaled Khashoggi was personal physician to King Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia. Of course everyone has heard of Adnan Khashoggi, the billionaire arms dealer who was the middleman in the Iran-Contra scandal in the 80s and a neighbor of Donald Trump. If you're interested in who-knows-who, this book gives a lot of that kind of information, and I am still talking about the grandfather Mohammad's daughter Samira having married Mohamed Al-Fayed. Who knew that Jamal Khashoggi was first cousin to Dodi Al Fayed? If your friends are into who's who, pick your assassinated person and you can drop little known tidbits into the conversation. There is no particular chronology to this compendium of interesting assassinated individuals, but I found enough of my own interests to make it well worth the read.#AssassinationsThatChangedTheWorld #NetGalley

My student loves your books so much you did such an amazing job writing this. Thank you so much for helping my students and i during this pandemic!