Character Assassination Across the Ages
Revised and Expanded Edition with New Theory, Chapters, and Cases
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 15. July 2026
316 pages
E-Book
978-1-040-84169-3 (ISBN)
Description
Character assassination-the deliberate destruction of an individual's reputation-has been a persistent feature of public life across time and cultures. This revised and expanded edition offers a comprehensive investigation into how reputations are attacked, damaged, and destroyed, with case studies ranging from ancient Rome to the present-day United States. Political and religious leaders, officials, celebrities, scientists, athletes, and other public figures emerge as frequent targets, with their private lives, values, and identities subjected to strategic scrutiny and distortion.
Bringing together contributions from history, political science, and psychology, the volume highlights both the common patterns and the unique variations of character assassination as it has unfolded across different cultural, political, and technological contexts. The comparative case studies demonstrate how reputational attacks are not only timeless but also deeply shaped by the media and institutions of their era. This completely revised edition includes a newly written introduction situating the volume within recent theoretical developments in character assassination research. Two new chapters expand the thematic and chronological scope of the work.
An essential resource for understanding the enduring and evolving power of reputational warfare, this book will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience, including history, political science, and political psychology.
Bringing together contributions from history, political science, and psychology, the volume highlights both the common patterns and the unique variations of character assassination as it has unfolded across different cultural, political, and technological contexts. The comparative case studies demonstrate how reputational attacks are not only timeless but also deeply shaped by the media and institutions of their era. This completely revised edition includes a newly written introduction situating the volume within recent theoretical developments in character assassination research. Two new chapters expand the thematic and chronological scope of the work.
An essential resource for understanding the enduring and evolving power of reputational warfare, this book will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience, including history, political science, and political psychology.
More details
Series
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
4 Tables, black and white; 2 Line drawings, black and white; 15 Halftones, black and white; 17 Illustrations, black and white
ISBN-13
978-1-040-84169-3 (9781040841693)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Martijn Icks | Eric B. Shiraev
Character Assassination Across the Ages
Revised and Expanded Edition with New Theory, Chapters, and Cases
Book
approx. 07/2026
2nd Edition
Pallas Publications
€191.50
Not yet published
Persons
Martijn Icks is a Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is the author of The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor (2011). Additionally, he has co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management (2020) and co-authored Character Assassination and Reputation Management (2022), also published by Routledge.
Eric Shiraev is a professor and researcher at George Mason University, USA. His multi-disciplinary approach emphasizes the role of culture and identity in social behavior and politics. He is the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management (2020) and has co-authored Character Assassination and Reputation Management (Routledge, 2022) and Cross-Cultural Psychology (6th edition, Routledge, 2024).
Eric Shiraev is a professor and researcher at George Mason University, USA. His multi-disciplinary approach emphasizes the role of culture and identity in social behavior and politics. He is the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management (2020) and has co-authored Character Assassination and Reputation Management (Routledge, 2022) and Cross-Cultural Psychology (6th edition, Routledge, 2024).
Content
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Introduction
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
1 Character Assassination: Bridging Psychology and History
Eric Shiraev
Ancient Rome
2 Character Attack and Invective Speech in the Roman Republic: Cicero as Target
Henriette van der Blom
3 Reports about the 'Sex Life' of Early Roman Emperors: A Case of Character Assassination?
Jan Meister
4 Creating Tyrants in Ancient Rome: Character Assassination and Imperial Investiture
Martijn Icks
Reflections: Ancient Rome
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
The Middle Ages
5 Falsifying the Prophet: Muhammad at the Hands of His Earliest Christian Biographers in the West
Kenneth Baxter Wolf
6 Louis of Orleans, Isabeau of Bavaria, and the Burgundian Propaganda Machine, 1392-1407
Tracy Adams
7 A Newcomer in Defamatory Propaganda: Youth (Late Fourteenth to Early Fifteenth Century)
Gilles Lecuppre
Reflections: Medieval Cases
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
The Early Modern Age
8 The Ass in the Seat of St. Peter: Defamation of the Pope in Early Lutheran Flugschriften
Bobbi Dykema
9 Odious and Vile Names: Political Character Assassination and Purging in the French Revolution
Mette Harder
10 "As Awkward and Deficient as His Wife Is Amiable and Accomplished": The Character Assassination of the Dutch Statesman Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (1761-1825)
Edwina Hagen
Reflections: Early Modern Cases
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
The Modern Age
11 Character Attacks and American Presidents
Eric Shiraev and Jason Smart
12 The Gao-Rao Affair: A Case of Character Assassination in Chinese Politics in the 1950s
Zi Yang and Eric Shiraev
13 Propaganda and Resistance: The Failed Character Assassination of Vaclav Havel in Communist Media
Martina Klicperova-Baker
14 Women's Libbers and Lesbians: Character Assassination in the Phyllis Schlafly Report
Jennifer Keohane
15 Political Cartoons as a Medium for Persuasive Attack: The Case of Governor Noem the Puppy Killer
William L. Benoit and Sergei A. Samoilenko
Reflections: Modern Cases
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Epilogue
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Index
List of Tables
Preface
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Introduction
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
1 Character Assassination: Bridging Psychology and History
Eric Shiraev
Ancient Rome
2 Character Attack and Invective Speech in the Roman Republic: Cicero as Target
Henriette van der Blom
3 Reports about the 'Sex Life' of Early Roman Emperors: A Case of Character Assassination?
Jan Meister
4 Creating Tyrants in Ancient Rome: Character Assassination and Imperial Investiture
Martijn Icks
Reflections: Ancient Rome
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
The Middle Ages
5 Falsifying the Prophet: Muhammad at the Hands of His Earliest Christian Biographers in the West
Kenneth Baxter Wolf
6 Louis of Orleans, Isabeau of Bavaria, and the Burgundian Propaganda Machine, 1392-1407
Tracy Adams
7 A Newcomer in Defamatory Propaganda: Youth (Late Fourteenth to Early Fifteenth Century)
Gilles Lecuppre
Reflections: Medieval Cases
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
The Early Modern Age
8 The Ass in the Seat of St. Peter: Defamation of the Pope in Early Lutheran Flugschriften
Bobbi Dykema
9 Odious and Vile Names: Political Character Assassination and Purging in the French Revolution
Mette Harder
10 "As Awkward and Deficient as His Wife Is Amiable and Accomplished": The Character Assassination of the Dutch Statesman Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck (1761-1825)
Edwina Hagen
Reflections: Early Modern Cases
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
The Modern Age
11 Character Attacks and American Presidents
Eric Shiraev and Jason Smart
12 The Gao-Rao Affair: A Case of Character Assassination in Chinese Politics in the 1950s
Zi Yang and Eric Shiraev
13 Propaganda and Resistance: The Failed Character Assassination of Vaclav Havel in Communist Media
Martina Klicperova-Baker
14 Women's Libbers and Lesbians: Character Assassination in the Phyllis Schlafly Report
Jennifer Keohane
15 Political Cartoons as a Medium for Persuasive Attack: The Case of Governor Noem the Puppy Killer
William L. Benoit and Sergei A. Samoilenko
Reflections: Modern Cases
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Epilogue
Martijn Icks and Eric Shiraev
Index
