Harari, Yuval Noah Fürsten im Fadenkreuz. Geheimoperationen im Zeitalter der Ritter 1100-1550

Yuval Noah Harari is the author of the world bestsellers "A Brief History of Mankind. Homo Deus" and "Lessons of the 21st Century". But he is also a renowned military historian of the Middle Ages and the early modern period. With this book, now appearing in German for the first time, he has broken new scholarly ground by examining commando operations in the age of the knights.

Attentions, kidnappings, sabotage - the most dramatic actions of the spies and secret agents of the Middle Ages. An educational as well as entertaining read for all Harari fans who want to get to know this fascinating author from a different angle. Even in the Middle Ages and early modern times, there were not only major battles and protracted sieges of fortresses and cities, but also targeted assassinations, kidnappings and sabotage, carried out with little material expenditure by only a few special forces. Such actions could be decisive for the outcome of wars or the rise and fall of entire ruling dynasties. They were usually intended to eliminate key political figures, such as members of rival royal houses or commanders of enemy armies. But they could also be directed against the enemy's infrastructure, such as bridges, mills and dams. And sometimes a brave squad would sneak into a besieged fortress with the help of a traitor to open the decisive gate for their own army. In his entertaining book, written from the sources, Harari takes us to the James Bonds of the Middle Ages and shows that 'dirty war' was not invented in the modern age.