Terrorism Today: The Past, The Players, The Future (3rd Edition) [Hardcover]

Clifford E. Simonsen (Author), Jeremy R. Spindlove (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131961837 | ISBN-13: 978-0131961838 | Publication Date: March 6, 2006 | Edition: 3

 The authors draw from more than 40 years of both academic and professional military experience to present a comprehensive look at the history, current activity and future implications of Terrorism worldwide. This newly revised edition brings the latest developments to life through practical examples, detailed maps and terrorism briefs to help readers visualize the locations and the players involved in terrorism and counterterrorism. Defines Terrorism and associated legal issues. Covers the complex history and motives behind the behavior. Discusses different types of terrorists, ranging from poorly organized groups of fanatics or dissidents with conflicting goals to the more highly organized emerging cells. Provides a clear overview of the many sectors and operations that comprise terrorism and counterterrorism and explores terrorist activity in the U.S. and around the world. Discusses counter measures and explores the war on terror and the past, present and future implications. For anyone in law enforcement, criminal justice, criminology, justice administration, security, sociology, or political science.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Terrorism Today is a comprehensive and international publication. Seldom are we able to read about terrorism from a global perspective and this is a real plus for the book . ...Much research has gone into the production of this text and those who read it will value that experience and commitment to textual integrity. I will be using this new edition in my courses." — Don Robertson, Professor, University of Western Sydney, Australia

"Terrorism Today uses a multidisciplinary approach to the study of terrorism and its various causes, effects, philosophies, and groups; and its evolution. Perspectives of history, religion, political science, and criminology are discussed. One theme emphasized in the book is that terrorism is a crime and should be dealt with as such Terrorism Today is an excellent book and is recommended for use by both students and professionals. — Paul D. Barnard, CPP, Command Security Manager, US Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Exploring a subject largely ignored by academic writers, this introductory book uncovers terrorist activities in the United States and around the world, drawing from the authors' blend of academic and professional experiences. Balanced treatment of practical examples, technology, history, and research. For anyone in law enforcement, criminal justice, criminology, justice administration, security, sociology, or political science. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (March 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131961837
• ISBN-13: 978-0131961838
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Educated people wrote this???, March 30, 2005

By 

Tori Amos fan (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrorism Today: The Past, The Players, The Future, Second Edition (Hardcover)

This book is the worst textbook I have ever read. Most of the ideas are not clear, and the authors jumped from one topic to another and back again. They threw in references to things that most people probably can't recall and didn't bother to explain them.

The review questions for each chapter are fairly ridiculous. The answers may or may not be in the chapter, and they either ask something too obvious or something that really doesn't matter. And then at times it seems that the authors couldn't figure out what else to ask, so they asked the same thing and worded it differently. The best part is that the review questions aren't specific so when the authors were talking about one country out of ten they mentioned in the chapter, they say, "that region," and then let the reader figure out what they're talking about. It was also lovely to figure out what they're made up terms in the questions were talking about because they failed to mention them in the text.

The sad thing is that this is the second edition of this book. I really can't see why it got published again. Some topics refer to events as late as 2002, while other topics weren't updated so the authors talk about what might happen in 1998 or 1999. And maybe it's just me, but using the 1990 World Book Encyclopedia as a reference several times is somewhat disappointing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the 3rd edition is MUCH better than previous editions, August 15, 2006

By 

karmicdoor "Ed" (Des Moines, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrorism Today: The Past, The Players, The Future (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

The negative reviews for this book are not off-base; however they seem to apply to an earlier edition of the book. The 2nd edition of this book had a lot of flaws that the authors needed to fix. In particular, the oddest vocab words were selected for study, there were certain glaring omissions (such as a detailed discussion of the Iraq war, for a book published in 2004!), and very awkward writing.

I've gotten a chance to peruse the 3rd edition, and most of these mistakes are cleared up. The ridiculous end-chapter questions are gone, the vocab words make more sense, and their coverage has been extended in places, and mercifully reduced in other places (such as the countries that don't have any terrorist problems).

Their approach (in both books) has one huge strength: if you're looking for a terrorism text that covers the subject from a comparative politics perspective, the book is almost unique in this respect. It doesn't treat terrorism as something that's just a Middle East or Muslim thing, but covers terrorism on every corner of the globe. Granted, the Middle East should recieve a lot of coverage in the subject of terrorism, and Simonson and Spindlove don't skimp out. However, many other terrorism texts begin AND end with the Middle East, which in my opinion, is the wrong way to go.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homeland Security Threats Around the World, November 16, 2001

By 

John Simmons (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Terrorism Today: The Past, the Players, the Future (Paperback)

I watch a lot of CNN and these days my copy of Terrorism Today is usually right there under the TV Guide.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, the authors have been busy with media interviews and television appearances because they have 3 distinctive points-of-view on terrorism: the past, the players, and the future. And in his interviews, co-author Simonsen always emphasizes "the players."

This book is so comprehensive and well-written that it motivated a team of programmers (including myself) to contact the authors and come up with a news-gathering system that would facilitate continuing antiterrorism research.

As a result, each chapter of Terrorism Today now has its own daily newsfeed on the Net with up-to-the-minute features and news items relating specifically to the content of that chapter.

The book is geospatially organized, giving you an in-depth understanding of terrorism country-by-country. A global map interface online gives you instant access to terrorism news for the area you click. For example, the U.S. map allows you to click major U.S. cities to get the latest homeland security news or anthrax alerts for each city.

As a reader you get various Internet tools to merge and sort your own selection of headlines, add your comments, and thus create your own newsfeed. You can then either email your newsfeed to your colleagues or students, or publish it on your web site or in your online classroom. An editing tool allows you to go one more step and combine the newsfeeds from different contributors to create an annotated compilation.

This book has inspired an interesting experiment in scanning global news on a topic of great public concern. (...)