http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/massassin.html
No pun intended, I’m sure.
(Nice article, by the way. I always thought the Garden of Delights bit sounded suspicously like a bit of medieval slander.)
Wrote this paper about the Assassins years ago for college.
http://www.sodamnhip.com/islam.html
Enjoy.
drp
The criticism of Daftary is perhaps a wee bit unfair. Pro-Ismaili he may be, but I wouldn’t consider his works ( there are a few ) on this topic to be polemics :). His books are certainly well worth reading as histories and as a contrast to Lewis’ ( and Hodgson’s ) views. The criticism of his scholarship as being derivative may or may not be the case, but at least he stole from a decent source :D.
For those curious here is a discussion of the Assassins ( radio program with callers - realplayer ) in the aftermath of 9/11 featuring both Daftary ( poor speaker ) and Lewis:
SoDamnHip: I have a few minor quibbles with your paper and one major one insomuch as your concluding sentence implies that the Ismailis are still conducting assassinations as a matter of course, which is incorrect. ButI don’t want to come off as excessively critical and this probably isn’t the place to debate it :).
- Tamerlane
You been here since October 2000, & you’ve only posted 4 times!?!? :eek:
Give it up for Unca Cecil a little, kid!
Actually, after idly flipping through Lewis’ book and Daftary’s [A Short History of the Ismailis (1998, Edinburgh University Press ), I’m inclined at a glance to question just how derivative Daftary’s work is. He certainly cites more modern references than just Lewis ( whose work on the Ismailis was early in his career ) and seems broader in scope ( insomuch as Lewis seemed to focus most heavily on the medieval Nizaris ). Which doesn’t disprove the possibility that that particular book on the Assasins wasn’t derivative of Lewis’ volume ( I don’t have a copy of that specific Daftary book to compare ), but I’m inclined to view Daftary’s overall scholarship as not excessively lightweight. But Lewis does right better in English ;).
Also, since I didn’t mention it before - Good report :).
- Tamerlane
Gah. WRITE
20 self-inflicted lashes for me.
“I have a few minor quibbles with your paper and one major one insomuch as your concluding sentence implies that the Ismailis are still conducting assassinations as a matter of course, which is incorrect.”
No no, the day I handed that paper in somebody was killed, I don’t remember who, it wasn’t Rabin (that was several years later), it was someone else . . . Can’t remember who. At the time it was relevant, eleven years later it’s not. (What big world leader was assassinated sometime in either the fall of '91 or the spring of '92? That’s who I was referring to. For the life of me I can’t remember who it is now. May have been a minor player, I dunno.)
And yeah, I’ve been registered since 2000 but I’ve only posted a few times. Changed computers and lost my cookie, couldn’t remember my user name or whatever it is. Figured it out, here I am.
Rajiv Gandhi?
SoDamnHip: I was wondering if it was something like that. It’s just that the linkage of modern political assassinations with the with the medieval Nizaris is a tenuous ( or non-existant ) one, outside of the name itself. But I understand better now what you were trying to say and the emotional point you were trying to make :).
- Tamerlane
I must also protest the article’s assertion that:
I mean, come on, the term “jet set” might have had an elite connotation 40 years ago, when jet airliners were new and few, but nowadays any cheap slob can ride on a 737!
And see? Here he is, and there’s his jet, what more do you want?
Hee. 