Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Paperback]

Charles Townshend (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0192801686 | ISBN-13: 978-0192801685 | Publication Date: January 16, 2003

This book charts a path through the outpouring of efforts to understand and explain modern terrorism, by asking what makes terrorism different from other forms of political, military action; what makes it effective; and what can be done about it. It unravels complex central questions such as whether terrorists are criminals, whether terrorism is a kind of war, what kind of threat terrorism represents, how far media publicity sustains terrorism, and whether democracy is especially vulnerable to terrorist attack. It examines the historical ideological and local roots of terrorist violence, and the success of specific terrorist and anti-terrorist campaigns in the more distant as well as the recent past.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`approachable and highly intelligent' the Guardian Review

About the Author

Charles Townshend is Professor of International History at Keele University. He has held fellowships at the National Humanities Centre and the Woodrow Wilson International Centre He is the author of The British Campaign in Ireland 1919-1921 (1975), Political Violence in Ireland (1983), Britain's Civil Wars: Counterinsurgency in the Twentieth Century (1986), Making the Peace: Public Order and Public Security in Modern Britain (1993), and Ireland: The Twentieth Century (1999).

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192801686
• ISBN-13: 978-0192801685
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #975,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and at times insightful, January 14, 2005

By 

Dana Garrett - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

Charles Townshend has written a helpful introduction to the subject of terrorism. He begins by discussing the definition of terrorism, a task more difficult than it might seem. He indicates that terrorism is often a matter of perspective since one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter. There are also questions about what counts as an act of terrorism. Do intentions and goals make some acts terrorist? Can a line be drawn at the kind of victims selected for a terrorist act? Townshend looks at some laws that define terrorism, USA and British law (as I recall). Even here we encounter problems because these laws could be applied to the actions of nations themselves. In my view, state terrorism is inadequately addressed in this book; I suspect because Townshend lacks a useable sense of what it might be. Yet I think that state terrorism is the easiest category of terrorism to define as well as the most pervasive form of terrorism in the world.

Townshend provides many historical examples of terrorism. They are all well chosen. He discusses the origins of terrorism in history: viz., the first terrorist groups, the philosophical patrimony of "propaganda by deed," assassination as terrorism and the terrorism during the French Revolution. He also explores different types of terrorism: revolutionary, nationalistic and religious. He ends by discussing counterterrorism as a strategy and correctly mentions the dangers inherent in such an approach. Townshend apparently believes that democracies will always be hampered in their responses to terrorism because of their high regard for human rights. Yet Townshend doesn't often discuss the many ways the "great democracies" have employed terrorism, either directly or through proxy forces, sometimes resulting in massive casualties, particularly in the third world nations. Although the western democracies might have a public relations problem in using terrorism, they certainly don't lack the aptitude.

If you want to read a short introduction to the topic of terrorism, then this will do...at times quite well.

3 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars babble, May 10, 2003

By 

newton fisher "nerdly uncki" (riverside, california United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)

Ivory tower stuff, not worth your time. A real, "How much fluff is in your bellybutton" kind of book. The most poor "Short Intro." book I have read.