Terrorism in the 21st Century (4th Edition) [Paperback]

Cynthia C. Combs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2005 | ISBN-10: 013193063X | ISBN-13: 978-0131930636 | Edition: 4

This book is designed to enable the reader to understand what terrorism is and, based on that understanding, to realistically assess future trends of this phenomenon. The book, written to be "user-friendly" for those not familiar with this unique form of political violence, putting terrorism in historical perspective, offers evaluative tools which can be applied to terrorist acts to assess the critical characteristics of what, who, why and how related to these acts in a non-pejorative fashion, including examples and case studies to facilitate this analysis. It evaluates various national and international responses to terrorism, in terms of their effectiveness and their legal ramifications, and offers predictions about future trends in terrorism based on current patterns, with graphs and statistics from the U.S. Department of State to make visualization of such patterns easier.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Professor Combs has a great deal of scholarly information and knowledge on the subject of terrorism. The text is timely, well thought out, and the author appears to possess a comfortable knowledge of state terrorism as well as terrorism from 'below.' The text has presented a well-documented and reasonable approach that will become a valuable resource and classroom text on the subject of terrorism." -- James M. Poland, California State University, Sacramento "Combs makes good use of examples, case studies, anecdotal information, and profiles of terrorists and organizations throughout her work. She helps students thoroughly understand substantive issues and theoretical materials. I have found that the students find the information and illustrations interesting and informative, especially as they relate to contemporary events. The work also reflects up-to-date scholarship ... both the breadth and depth of research is impressive." -- Robert A. Wood, North Dakota State University --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Unbiased in perspective, this text 1) examines the known facets of contemporary terrorism -- explaining what terrorism is, who carries it out, how terrorist acts are committed, 2) analyzes the laws and special forces which nations within the international community have created to meet this challenge, and 3) predicts forthcoming patterns of terrorism in the new century. Post Cold War in focus and written specifically for undergraduate students, it helps them evaluate the dimensions of the problems presented by contemporary terrorism, and challenges them to develop solutions. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 4 edition (August 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013193063X
• ISBN-13: 978-0131930636
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #635,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A textbook on Terrorism, July 6, 2002

By 

Yehoram Gordon (Haifa Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)

The book is a thorough review of the differnet aspects of terrorism, and as such it fits as an undergraduate textbook on the subject. Combs reviews the history of terrorism, different types of terrorism, and how people and governmnets dealt with this phenomenon during the years.
The book is written is a clear and communicative style, and each chapter ends with several issues for indepth thinking and discussion.
The relatively small size of the book, the clarity and exhaustiveness of its coverage of terrorism make it attractive to a busy student who wishes to learn about terrorism but has very little time to spend on such study. I truely think the book merits 5 point especially compared to other material written on this subject these days.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, February 6, 2006

By 

Smith, JR "Smith" (Charlotte) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrorism in the 21st Century (4th Edition) (Paperback)

I am a prior student of Cindy Combs and have studied terrorism for over 5 years. I own both a copy of the 3rd and 4th edidtions and can say without a doubt the book provides an excellent introduction to the study of terrorism. I have read reviews concerning the book and must say that the information is outdated, but it is meant as a guideline. The book is best used in conjunction with the Encyclopedia of Terrorism and the Terrorism Readers (aka governement reports on activity and News articles concerning recent actions).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't do justice to its title., November 17, 2008

By 

Gautam Maitra "gautam maitra" (Kolkata, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terrorism in the 21st Century (5th Edition) (Paperback)

Cynthia Comb's book ought to have focussed much more on contemporary terrorism instead of those that prevailed in the 1970s and 1980s. While this book is useful to get an insight into the dynamics of terrorism, modern terrorism is qualitatively different in that it is far more organized with a global network. If one has to gain a theoretical understanding on the subject then the section on terrorism in my book, 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit' could be worth trying.

Yet, Dr. Comb has written a very interesting and thought provoking book and that alone counts. This is more so, if one admits the size of the book in view of a rapidly proliferating topic.

Gautam Maitra
Author of 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights into Major US Foreign Policies Since Independence.'