Description
Book SynopsisA political thriller about an assassination plot against Charles de Gaulle; including an introduction that tells the story behind the novel's publication and its lasting ramifications.
Trade Review"James D. Le Sueur provides a historical essay appended to the novel wherein he describes the political climate at the time of the efforts to kill de Gaulle, and then a very vivid description of the defamation trial. Taken together, the novel and Le Sueur’s essay provide a riveting recreation of a moment in French history where the dramatic and the ridiculous vied for equal attention."—William Cloonan,
South Atlantic Review"Professor James LeSueur . . . does not specialize in spy novels of the 1960s. His domain is more the history of intellectuals. One day, however, in Paris, Pierre Vidal-Naquet told him about an old memory of a forgotten affair: the pulping of an English spy novel, in 1963, following a lawsuit filed by Jacques Soustelle. Soustelle’s complaint was that his role in the novel was that of a villain, a scheming fascist. Le Sueur did some research, tracked down the authors, read their files. And he just brought that little novel back into print in the U.S.:
Assassination! July14. In a long, passionate historical essay, Le Sueur tells the story of the trial. And this second part of the book is a more solid and captivating thriller than the slight novel which precedes it. Not only does the essay cast new light on Jacques Soustelle, one of the most enigmatic personages of the postwar period, it also illuminates in formidable fashion the political strife of the time, its pure violence."—Pascal Riché,
Libération"An unusual political thriller, first published almost 40 years ago, now looks like a revealing document of France’s deepest postwar crisis . . . You could also read
Assassination! for pleasures of a less-erudite kind, summed up by three simple words: grenade-launching dogs."—Scott McLemee,
Chronicle of Higher EducationTable of ContentsContents The Beginning Baraka Canine Kamikazes Max Mr. Palk Max Palk Max and Silesia The Minister The Forgotten Forecast The Prefect The Sentence That Never Was The Villains Boudin Bears a Barbouze The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, second edition How Odd of God Famous Last Words Tuesday, July the Tenth Wednesday, July the Eleventh Thursday, July the Twelfth Friday, July the Thirteenth Max Escapes by the Back The Setback Max Must See the Prefect The Telephone Call The Red Cross Max Goes Underground Jacobs among the Jackboots The Prefect Loses Some Sleep The Assassination Breakfast on the Fourteenth Max Puts on his Uniform Salute the Rostrum Assassination The End July the Sixteenth Before the Jackal: The International Uproar over Assassination!
