Jackal: Finally, The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal [Hardcover]

John Follain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

Carlos the Jackal is a name synonymous with terrorism. He was the most feared, the most wanted, the most notorious terrorist of our time. For more than two decades he carried out missions intended to create a climate of fear in the West, further the politcal goals of the PLO, and set free Arab prisoners held in Israeli and Western prisons, culminating in the famous kidnapping of eleven OPEC ministers in Vienna. For almost twenty years, Carlos remained operative and at large until his capture in 1994. Jackal is the full story of the world's most notorious terrorist.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ilich Ramirez Sanchez once called himself a "professional revolutionary." During a career in international terrorism lasting more than two decades, Sanchez--better known as Carlos the Jackal--murdered 83 people by his own count, once held several dozen oil ministers hostage during an OPEC meeting, and "freelanced" for, among others, Muammar al-Qaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and the Italian Red Brigade. Before his eventual capture in 1994 and subsequent trial and imprisonment in France, the Jackal's reputation as a "terrorist's terrorist" was unsurpassed. Dozens of hijackings, bombings, and assassinations were blamed on him, whether or not he was involved (which led him to stand before a French court and accuse everyone within view of libel).

From his fervent Communist upbringing in Venezuela, Carlos was set upon the revolutionary path at an early age. He was allegedly given training in guerilla warfare in Cuba while still a teenager, and soon thereafter studied in the Soviet Union. Jackal breathlessly follows Sanchez's rapid rise up the world's ladder of professional brigands and cutthroats and his international playboy lifestyle, but seldom reveals a private side to the man--perhaps, one guesses, because Carlos the Jackal never had the time or inclination to cultivate one. Follain attempts to make an icon of Carlos ("I will stay inside jail forever or I will be shot dead if I get out," he mused to a reporter while imprisoned in France) in a valiant effort to lend a moral hook to his story, but, as he finally admits, "revolution for Carlos meant a state of mindless euphoria, chasing after women, and luxurious living." --Tjames Madison

From Publishers Weekly

Biographies come in various degrees of difficulty: there are subjects about whom much is known and those about whom little is known. And then there are a handful of subjects such as the international terrorist Carlos the Jackal, whose life has been based on elaborate deception. Carlos, born Ilich Ramirez Sanchez 49 years ago in Venezuela, led a childhood and youth so outlandish that even a novelist might have shunned such incredible material. While still in his teens, Carlos achieved the status of a highly trained revolutionary with the encouragement of his leftist father. Linking himself to Palestinian terrorists, Carlos began accepting murderous assignments throughout the world, killing innocent people because of their religious affiliations or their political views. After detailing Carlos's crimes, Follain turns to the campaign by various intelligence agencies (including the CIA) to capture the terrorist, a campaign that resulted in his capture in the Sudan by French counterespionage agents in 1994. (He is currently imprisoned in France.) French journalist Follain (A Dishonoured Society) can be applauded for attempting such an ambitious project, but huge (if often understandable) gaps in his research, far-fetched psychologizing and clunky writing sabotage this biography of a saboteur. (Nov.) FYI: Carlos is identified as "the most feared international terrorist" of the 20th century in Jay Robert Nash's Terrorism in the 20th Century: A Narrative Encyclopedia from the Anarchists through the Weathermen to the Unabomber. (M. Evans, $24.95 paper 456p ISBN 0-87131-855-5; Dec.)
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; 1ST edition (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559704667
• ISBN-13: 978-1559704663
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Massive Page Turner., October 30, 2006

By 

Bernard Chapin "Ora Et Labora!" (CHICAGO! USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jackal: Finally, The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book even though the subject of its study is deplorable. Carlos the Jackal's story is not his alone. It tells of an era in which governments gritted their teeth and negotiated with terrorists despite official pronouncements to never cave in to their demands. Countries like France, and even East Germany, believed that by giving in to evil revolutionaries like those of the Carlos Group, they could buy their own safety and security. They failed to learn the important lessons of Munich; appeasement never works. As a man, Carlos was an adventurer, a philanderer, a spoiled gourmet, and a raconteur. He also seemed to have little political understanding of the causes he served, and regarded them only as a means to an end. Unlike the fundamentalist terrorists of our day, he fought to increase his own status and power which translated into his obtaining more women and luxuries at each step on his way up the status hierarchy. Somewhat surprisingly, the reader may find that it is difficult to summon up the requisite hatred for him as he really was more Goring than Hitler. Carlos could be bought for the right price and often he was. His brand of terrorism is now defunct which, when one compares his corruption to the absolute devotion of his peers, may not be such a good thing; although, it is nice to know that at least one of these villains will spend his life behind bars.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carlos the Jackal: The Infamous Terrorist, December 7, 2005

By 

P. Smyth - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jackal: Finally, The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal (Hardcover)

Twenty years ago Carlos was widely blamed/implicated for incidents ranging from the 1972 Munich Olympic Massacre of Israeli athletes to bombings throughout France. Back in the 70s -80s Carlos the Jackal became synonomus during the so-called Red-terror campaign by left wing groups in addition to his connections with Palestinian terror groups.

Follain does a good job describing the Marxist upbringing of the young Illych Sanchez Ramierez (the Jackal's real name), his attendence of the KGB guerilla training school in Moscow (he was later kicked out), to the Jackal's affiliation with groups such as the PFLP and the RAF (Baader-Meinhoff Group). Follain describes how the devout Marxist was actually a playboy (he waited to pose for camera men after the 1975 OPEC takeover) and would kill for his own motives (such as French train bombings because his wife was arrested by French authorities).

This is a very succesful attempt at an in-depth analysis of the once illusive Jackal. I would definatley recommend it for those interested.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaks the Myth that is the Jackal, March 11, 1999

By 

Jordan R "Jordan R" (Dallas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jackal: Finally, The Complete Story of the Legendary Terrorist, Carlos The Jackal (Hardcover)

Follain describes with brilliant accuracy a life filled with violence and terror. Carlos the Jackal's life represents the decline of wholesale terrorism and the countries who support it. Follain's book not only portrays Carlos' private life but depicts his entire operation. Overall, a great book.