This lively book offers the first comprehensive theoretical and practical resource for those interested in the study of character assassination, aiding readers in understanding, critically analyzing, and effectively defending against such attacks.

1. Introduction 2. Character Assassination in History 3. Approaches and Methodology to Study Character Assassination 4. The Actors in Character Attacks 5. Content and Types of Character Attacks 6. Means and Venues 7. The Impact of Character Attacks 8. Defending Against and Managing Character Attacks 9. The Culture Factor 10. Character Assassination in Democracies 11. The Political Factor: Authoritarianism 12. Character Assassination in International Relations 13. The Gender and Sexuality Factor 14. Character Attacks in Sports, Science, and Entertainment Conclusion

"Character Assassination and Reputation Management is scholarly in its approach, impressive in its scope, current in its applications, and engaging in its readability. The best and most timely book on this topic in the field!"David A. Levy, Ph.D., Professor, Pepperdine University"This is an essential handbook for understanding why character assassination happens. Hopefully it will be part of the foundation that explores the realistic exercises that can – and cannot – be undertaken to mitigate against such a destructive phenomenon."Eric Dezenhall, Crisis Management Consultant, CEO Dezenhall Resources - Public Affairs"This book represents a very important contribution to political and media literacy, an extremely topical and vital subject of today."Martina Klicperová, Ph.D., Czech Academy of Sciences"This first textbook on a very critical and timely subject is a must-read for students and teachers, theorists and practitioners, and anyone who wants to learn how to be the master of their judgments about people in the world of politics and business. Excitingly written, this book makes us observers of complex strategic operations, where the main weapon against the chosen target is the word. The narrative woven out of many examples from history and modern events allows us to see the methods and tools used by reputation killers and to get acquainted with methods of protection that can be useful to any of us, but especially to current and future politicians, business leaders, and heads of state."Ekaterina Egorova, Ph.D., President of Political Profiler (USA), and President of the Niccolo M Strategic Communications"Today, when the world struggles with the ongoing Global Knowledge Warfare, where characters become frequent targets in information operations, the book touches new and critical patterns of contemporary international relations and security studies."Holger Mölder, Ph.D., Tallinn University of Technology"Too often, new areas of research in communication are too niche and have little relevance to real life. Character Assassination and Reputation Management: Theory and Application avoids those limitations by providing fascinating insights about character assassination. The book fully develops the idea of character assassination and how it has application far beyond politics to other aspects of life. I appreciate the richness of the approach that integrates ideas from a number of fields to illuminate character assassination. There is a strong element of strategic communication that helps to ground the book in application. The section on reputation is an excellent examine of the book’s comprehensive approach. The readers will find a well-reasoned discussion of what reputation management is and its intersection with character assassination. The reader will develops a clear understanding of character assassination and how it can affect their lives from this book."W. Timothy Coombs, Professor, Texas A&M"The editors have enabled (the matter of) character assassination to develop from a research theme to a full-fledged interdisciplinary field of study, which is of significance concerning the political topicality of the upcoming populism. Character assassination is responsible for the decline of our democratic manners. This book offers the groundwork for a firm positioning of CA-studies within academic education. Students will be made aware of the phenomenon by inserting them into the foundational mechanisms of character assassination: proofing the practical relevance of character assassination research."Edwina Hagen, Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam