This small volume deserves to be read by those engaged in the study of modern South Africa. It also has interests for students of biography. The Assassin: A Story of Race and Rage in the Land of Apartheid is the first biography of Demitrios Tasfendas. Were it not for his assassination of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, the South African Prime Minister, Tsafendas most likely would not have merited even a historical footnote. The Assassin saved Tsafendas from the historical anonymity accorded to the assassins of 20th century notables such as the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Princess Sophie, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John F. Kennedy
