The Assassin by Thomas Bauer is a short, easy-to-read, semi-historical novel in which a naïve, fantasy-prone young baker in a remote mountain village is inspired by an anti-French provocateur to assassinate Napoleon on the general’s stopover in northern Italy’s Piedmont area. Besides the exciting tale about the proposed murder, Mr. Bauer presents a humorous and all-encompassing portrait of late-eighteenth-century rural Italian life as well as a primer on how to start a revolution from a simple idea in one man’s mind. Mr. Bauer could have been presenting a metaphor for the current political atmosphere in the United States. In The Assassin, the protagonist is Umberto Guardo, the twenty-something son of the village’s sole baker. The village is so small that there is only one of every necessary profession.

I was impressed by Mr. Bauer’s writing pace. Taking his time, he develops the tale step by step, first giving us a vivid picture of the hilltop village Puntarocca, its isolation and irrelevancy, and of a group of young men who, besides their jobs in family businesses, spend their time drinking, eyeing women and playing practical jokes on fellow villagers. Our protagonist, Umberto, is the most naïve of the gang and the butt of most of the tricks; his nickname is “Capra” the goat. Umberto dreams big of city life and of a great destiny. He is perfect grist for the idealistic mill of the story’s villain, the iconoclastic Simone Testa, seeking temporary refuge in the village to plan Italy’s resistance to impending French rule. In an easy and exciting read, Thomas Bauer has written an intriguing, ironic tale of Italian days long past and of the enduring methodology of revolution in The Assassin.

The Assassin by Thomas Bauer is an intriguing novella about an attempted assassination of Napoleon by a small group of illiterate and indolent village men in a tiny village in Italy. Umberto Guardo is the simple, naïve baker’s son whose life revolves around getting drunk every evening with his equally ne’er-do-well buddies in the local tavern, playing pranks on each other and other innocent members of the village, and trying to keep his parents happy during the day by helping in the bakery. When a stranger arrives in the village and begins to indoctrinate the young men about the joys of a united Italy, standing proud against the expected French invasion, Umberto and his friends are impressed by his stories of the wider world and even by his political rhetoric. It is a shock when the news is announced that the great Generalissimo himself and his troops will be passing through the tiny village. Can one member of this group find the courage and the wherewithal to actually assassinate Napoleon and forever change the course of European history?

The Assassin is interesting, if just for the idea that even the lowest member of society can make a difference in world history just by one single, outrageous act. Author Thomas Bauer has created an intriguing postulation with this narrative. The characters that comprise the drinking buddies are, at best, lazy, indolent, and uninterested in much beyond their daily get-together and drinking sessions. Umberto, as the exception, having seen a much larger city with his father is more expansive in his outlook and can readily see the world the stranger opens up for them. I particularly enjoyed the interplay between Umberto and his comrades, whose pranks were often needlessly hurtful and frequently deeply regretted after they had been played on the unsuspecting victims. The idea that one insignificant person could have changed the course of history with a single act is one that has intrigued authors through the centuries and this iteration of the concept makes for a generally satisfying if rather brief read. This book was easy to read and many of the members of Umberto’s group were readily identifiable and able to be empathized with. I enjoyed it and can recommend this book.