Customer Reviews

Terrorism Today (Cass Series on Political Violence)

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Within the broader framework of outlining the goals, motives and strategies of modern terrorist groups, Harmon documents some very specific examples of people, places and events.

This is not a catalog of terrorist groups or a chronology of individual terrorist acts. Rather, it is an in-depth look at the problem as a whole. Harmon uses examples from groups all over the world and in the process discredits such notions as "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

In the chapter dealing with future threats, Harmon all but predicted the events of September 11th.

Anyone interested in a scholarly look at the terrorist threat since the end of the cold war, should read this book.

The market for books on terrorism has flourished in the months following September 11th. This has been a mixed blessing. On the one hand, quality works of enduring value have had increased exposure, on the other hand we have seen a flood of books of extremely dubious merit and sensationalism. This book belongs in the first category and deserves more exposure than it has had.

Harmon (a lecturer at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College) provides a readable and wide ranging overview of his subject; with coverage of the politics and effectiveness of terrorism, terrorist groups, counter-terrorism methods and a section debunking some of the many and varied misconceptions and popular myths regarding terrorist groups. The text is scattered with thumbnail descriptions of various leading terrorist groups, terrorists and important works of literature in the terrorism canon.

This book serves as an excellent general introduction to the subject and acts as a solid foundation upon which the newcomer to the subject can build. It belongs alongside the serious academic texts on terrorism rather than the sensational journalistic mush that is now common on the shelves of mainstream book shops and yet is still readable and easy to get into.

If you only ever read one book on the general theme of terrorism you could do worse than making it this one. Undergraduate students studying terrorism should make a point of giving it a look too.

Terrorism authority and foreign correspondent Ronald Payne reviewed TERRORISM TODAY in the August 18, 2000 edition of the prestigious "TLS"--Times Literary Supplement (London). Payne calls this book "a masterly survey of the big picture of world violence" and "a comprehensive survey of what can be done to cope with the problem..." The book "provides many useful strategy recommendations which Western governments would do well to study. It also provides an up-to-date glossary of operational terrorist groups." -CCH

The third edition of this best-selling insight into terrorism today has been updated and revised to include what the author terms the new `militant Moslem international.'

Drawing directly on the words and ideas of terrorists themselves, this book offers an examination of patterns, current trends and future threats in terrorism worldwide.
It explores the ideology and psychology, the politics and policies, the strategies and operations of many active small groups and major insurgencies. The book reflects on modern technology and tactics, and also on counter-terrorism mechanisms.

This is an important resource for students of terrorism, counter-insurgency and international security. Its main weakness is lack of careful discussion of the human rights violations that are increasingly the result of the War on Terror. The author is concerned with the terrorist phenomenon and with the ways to fight against it, not with the legality and the legitimacy of the means used to tackle and eradicate terror.

I own the affordable paperback version, and I'm glad I do because this is one of the best books out there on terrorism. Sure, the writing is a little scattered with snippets or profiles of different terrorist groups to illustrate various points, but the flow is great and the insights are just at a very high level. I particularly enjoyed how the book seems to read like a series of intelligence estimates, but this is due to the author's background, I guess. It's not only a great book on terrorism, but one that a reader may come back to time and time again to get some new insight out of it.

difficult subject explained in terms a non-Jesuit can understand.