The Assassins. A Radical Sect In Islam

'Assassin' is now a common noun in most European languages, but it first came to the West from Arabic around the time of the Crusades, when it was the name given to a secretive Islamic sect feared by the Crusaders and the Muslim establishment alike. Here Bernard Lewis traces the origins of the Assassin sect in the Shi'ite branch of Islam and chronicles both their doctrines and the life of their enigmatic founder, the legendary 'Old Man of the Mountain'. The Assassins were the first group to make planned, systematic, and long-term use of murder as a political weapon, and their ideals and methods have since found many imitators. The Assassins is the most comprehensive, readable, and authoritative account of history's first terrorists.