Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature [Paperback]

Alex P. Schmid (Author), A.J. Jongman (Author), Irving Louis Horowitz (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1412804698 | ISBN-13: 978-1412804691 | Edition: 2

While there is no easy way to define terrorism, it may generally be viewed as a method of violence in which civilians are targeted with the objective of forcing a perceived enemy into submission by creating fear, demoralization, and political friction in the population under attack. At one time a marginal field of study in the social sciences, terrorism is now very much in center stage. The 1970s terrorist attacks by the PLO, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Japanese Red Army, the Unabomber, Aum Shinrikyo, Timothy McVeigh, the World Trade Center attacks, the assault on a school in Russia, and suicide bombers have all made the term "terrorism" an all-too-common part of our vocabulary.

This edition of Political Terrorism was originally published in the 1980s, well before some of the horrific events noted above. This monumental collection of definitions, conceptual frameworks, paradigmatic formulations, and bibliographic sources is being reissued in paperback now as a resource for the expanding community of researchers on the subject of terrorism. This is a carefully constructed guide to one of the most urgent issues of the world today.

When the first edition was originally published, Choice noted, "This extremely useful reference tool should be part of any serious social science collection." Chronicles of Culture called it "a tremendously comprehensive book about a subject that any who have anything to lose--from property to liberty, life to limbs--should be forewarned against."

Alex P. Schmid received his Ph.D. from the University of Zrich, Switzerland, and is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Leiden University. He is the coauthor, with Albert J. Jongman, of Soviet Military Interventions since 1945, available from Transaction. Albert J. Jongman is principal researcher for PIOOM, the Interdisciplinary Research Programme on Causes of Human Rights Violations, and has been a research assistant at the SIPRI in Sweden. He is the author of Monitoring Human Rights Violations (State Violence, State Terrorism, and Human Rights). Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers University, and the chairman and editorial director of Transaction Publishers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This extremely useful reference tool should be part of any serious social science collection." Chronicles of Culture called it "a tremendously comprehensive book about a subject that any who have anything to lose--from property to liberty, life to limbs--should be forewarned against."--Choice Magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt distinguished university professor emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers University and founding editor of Society. He serves as chairman and editorial director of Transaction Publishers. He is a life-long student of political sociology, having worked on the French anarchist tradition in such works as Radicalism and the Revolt Against Reason, and more recently the European statist and anti-statist traditions in Behemoth: Main Currents in the History and Theory of Political Sociology, his work on pacifism and violence in the political process.

Product Details

• Paperback: 700 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers; 2 edition (March 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412804698
• ISBN-13: 978-1412804691
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #823,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental Theories, but a little dated, October 26, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature (Paperback)

This book is broken down into three parts.

Part one, of about 200 pages attempts to define a basic, universal theory of terrorism. It begins with an attempt to define just what terrorism is - no small as it seems every researcher has his own definition. From here it begins to break down terrorism into categories such as single individual, politically based, state supported. All of this is in an attempt to define a set of theories of terrorism. Such theories may well be necessary before combating terrorism becomes practical.

The second part of the book is a bibliography of terrorism. This lists some 6,000 books and articles that have been published on one aspect or another of terrorism.

The last part of the book is a 'directory' of terrorist organizations around the world. This list is much larger than expected. For instance it lists 39 organizations in Afghanistan, 107 in Lebanon, 90 in Italy, 140 in France, 66 in the United States. This list is very informative, but must be considered out of date as such organizations re-form, merge, go away constantly as new organizations are formed. At this stage, this list almost has to be considered mainly of historical value.

This is one of the first books to look at terrorism as a field of study in its own right. This particular edition of the book is reprinted from the second edition of 1988.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Academic junk, June 30, 2009

By 

Thomas W. Sulcer (Summit, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature (Paperback)

Academic gobbledygook, boring, dated, mind-numbingly complex and needlessly wishy-washy junk that falls into a trap most academics studying terrorism fall into, namely, a painful inability to define terrorism. It won't help anybody prevent terrorism. It is an attempt to turn terrorism into an abstract and rather arcane academic discipline. I think the authors have a vested interest in making this subject more complex than it deserves to be. It's proper form should really be an interactive database, not a book, since the information it tries to encompass will keep changing.

Sensible readers should avoid this book. Readers should heed the warning by professor Horowitz in his foreword: "Dr. Schmid and Drs. Jongman and their colleagues have made the task of researchers in this area both simpler and DEVASTATINGLY MORE COMPLEX." (capitals added for emphasis). Heed his warning.

I challenge the authors to debate the merits of my terrorism prevention strategy (below). My strategy defines and prevents terrorism. Theirs doesn't.

Thomas W. Sulcer

author of "Common Sense II: How to Prevent the Three Types of Terrorism"

(google title + Sulcer)