7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Greek terrorism, July 23, 2003
This review is from: Europe's Last Red Terrorists: The Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Hardcover)
When I first was made aware of this book, I thought, hot dog! At last a book on one of the most fascinating revolutionary gangs in last 100 years. Then I read the book. It's not a bad book, but it's not a good one, either. Thick, viscous prose and about double too much of it. I think maybe this is a better tool for security pros than just us grunts trying to understand the world we've made. Lots of social background about Greece and its recent history, which is good but difficult to wade through, which is bad. Also, Kassimeris is a Greek journalist and from my dozen years of living in that country, I know that Greek journalism tends to be long on guesswork and short on facts. In any case, it simply isn't worth the astounding price... ( especially when you can get essentially the same info from the same author on janes.com for free ).
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A good book though it should be cheaper and needs a second edition, October 19, 2010
This review is from: Europe's Last Red Terrorists: The Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Hardcover)
This book was extremely well written and meticulously cited. The footnotes were chock-full of the grisly details of this murderous bunch. If you want to learn about the nature of left-wing terrorism in Greece this is an excellent source. The price, however, is ridiculous. The only substantial flaw with the book itself is that it was published in 2001, a year before most of the organization was rolled up. There is still a shortage of (English-language, at least)writing on the inner-workings of 17N, which we should now be able to understand with its leadership finally having been imprisoned. We still don't know if all of the organization was taken down or whether its membership has simply rebranded itself into the new left-wing terrorist groups that emerged just after the arrest of the 17N leadership. This book is great, it just needs to complete the story with a 2nd edition, or ideally a sequel.
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5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
To much ado about nothing, January 21, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Europe's Last Red Terrorists: The Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Hardcover)
The first part of the book follows the post 1974 maxim of erasing all the references of communist murderous activities during 1942-1949 by overlooking minimizing or whitewashing them; therefore we have the first justification of the existence of the RO17N as a response to the policies of the right. We understand the author's structuralistic approach in his effort to analyze and examine the RO17N. But we, the lay public, do not have such an affinity in academic approaches to the problem and unfortunately the intricacies of such analyses leave may questions unanswered. We have preferred simple answers, or at least an attempt, to very simple questions such as:
a. who is financing
1. The leftist splinter groups so they can print newspapers rent spaces and hold meetings and function as recruiting centers for the terrorists.
2. The RO17N itself
b. who trains the professional killers of RO17N
c. Where they had been during the seven years dictatorship. Every one knows that during that period no serious terrorist activity took place except a couple of fireworks bombs which claimed the lives of innocent passer-bys which bombs did not have any effect on the policies of the regime. Most probably during these seven years they were practicing guerilla tactics while picnicking in the Bois de Boulogne, in the outskirts of Rome or Berlin.
He fails also to mention that after the restoration of democracy the entire intelligence system was dismissed, and dissolved because it was effective and efficient in dealing with communists having a deep knowledge of communist dialectic and tactics and so being able to control every movement of KKE and its cohorts. That was the price paid by M. K. Karamanlis in order to get the "Karamanlis or tanks" benediction. The left had accepted Karamanlis and used him and Karamanlis used them too by allowing the formation of a communist apparat to keep an eye on the military and monitor the activities in the various units. In this fertile ground of total absence of leftist activity surveillance the RO17N was planted, put roots and sprouted. However, an entire new apparatus was created, the notorious YPEA (National Security Service), to keep an eye on the activities of the right by infiltrating agent provocateurs, penetrating the various organization and by using counterplo techniques. Because the right could have posed a serious challenge to the Karamanlian Impero.
Mr. Babalis and Mallios were not murdered because they allegedly tortured the resistance "fighters" but because both were experienced intelligence officers and they knew too much about many. They knew too much about the double crossings, double dealings and under the table bargaining's of many who nowadays they do claim resistance against the junta.
And last but not least the purge of the Junta elements (katharsis) did not go that far and Mr. Kassimeris should be thankful, otherwise he would no be able to enjoy the hospitality of Eleftherotypia's spaces.
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