Customer Reviews

Talking Terrorism: A Dictionary of the Loaded Language of Political Violence

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This is a very unusual book. Although it explores words, it's not really a dictionary. It's about political violence, explained from the point of view of biased language-a kind of Orwellian study for the reference librarian. The book looks at how the use and manipulation of language creates reality and challenges us to rethink our views. It invites us to look carefully into the nonnuanced language that can raise bigotry, fabricate enemies, and incite-even exalt-violence, and that has the power even to curse victims and foster forgetfulness of those who died for one's own cause. This is often the everyday language churned out by the media and government: buzzwords such as "weapons of mass destruction"; stereotypes like those surrounding Jews, Muslims, or, in America's past, the eastern European, disparaged as an anarchist; and all the other rhetorical chauvinism that shuts down dialogue and critical thinking and simplifies reality to suit the demagogic few. The author is an anthropologist who balances the treatment of diverse groups worldwide. Readers sensitive to exposure to the self-serving propaganda of their own group may turn away, but to their loss. This is a readable book. I recommend it to every American. *****

I couldn't disagree with scorpio1952 more. This book does two things: It presents an objective definition of the language used concerning terrorism and political violence, and it also shows how this language is manipulated--by both sides--to affect our beliefs and perceptions. Of course, terrorism is a sensitive topic, and I suspect there are a few people who will be unwilling/unable to tolerate this kind of analysis. (It's much easier to look at it as good vs. evil, right vs. wrong.) But if you're really interested in understanding terrorism, political violence, and all the parties involved, you'll benefit from this book. Highly recommended.

Did you know that the United States is a police state and that race riots were actually "massacres of black people"? Or that Islam is the most tolerant of the three monotheistic religions? These are just three examples of this author's outrageous statements. This book is sheer propaganda, full of ignorance, outright lies, and sleight-of-word reversals to minimize and excuse Islamist terrorism while blaming its victims. The author promotes a false equivalence and a phony "evenhandedness" and even engages in libel. (For instance, he falsely claims that Maimonides, the 12th-century Jewish philosopher, said that black people are "subhuman." Maimonides never said any such thing.) He cleverly uses passive verbs a lot so he doesn't have to say WHO says or thinks the ideas he is asserting. This serves to mask the perpetrator of a lie and give false universalism to something (e.g., "It is known that...." Is it? WHO knows it?) If I had another 1,000 words I could give many, many examples. Do NOT waste your money on this book!