Historical Dictionary of Terrorism - Hardcover

Stephen Anderson, Sean; Sloan; Stephen Sloan

9780810829145: Historical Dictionary of Terrorism

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810829142 ISBN 13: 9780810829145

Publisher: Lanham, Maryland, U.S.A.: Scarecrow Pr, 1995

Terrorism has consistently dogged this supposedly modern and enlightened age. It has merely adopted new shapes and forms in keeping with the times. The causes have also evolved over the years, as old problems are solved and new ones created. Moreover, it has gone high-tech, like everything else. Thus, as this book convincingly shows, terrorism will remain with us in the future, even if, with the end of the Cold War, it again mutates and becomes more sophisticated and potentially more dangerous. So it is essential to get a better grasp of what the phenomenon consists, who practices it...and against whom. That is not an easy task, not when terrorism is so widespread and diversified. Nor is it even simple to explain just what acts or groups are terrorists. Still, this newly updated and expanded edition certainly makes the situation more clear by tracing an amazing number of acts and groups in literally hundreds of informative entries. This edition also has many new entries on basic concepts and theory. The chronology inserts terrorism into its historical context. Of no less significance is an introduction that helps us understand the "whys" and "therefores". The bibliography has been substantially revised and updated. It contains a newsection, which deals with weapons of mass destruction, "cyber-terrorism," as well as more conventional terrorist threats. In addition, it has new sections devoted specifically to U.S. government documents as well as Internet sources for research or emergency planning or personal interest. For all these reasons this volume is bound to become a standard reference work.

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About the Author:

Sean K. Anderson is Associate Professor of Political Science at Idaho State University. From 1980 to 1982, Dr. Anderson worked as chief editor in the International Department of the Pars News Agency (now the Islamic Republic News Agency) in Tehran, Iran. Stephen Sloan is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma. Since 1966 Dr. Sloan pioneered the development of simulations of terrorist incidents to assist domestic and foreign law-enforcement departments, as well as the U.S. Amry and U.S. Air Force in developing counterterrorist operational skills.

From Booklist:

In the latest in the publisher’s Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest series, two experts have expanded and updated their 2002 edition, drawing from their own and others’ studies. They begin with a helpful 16-page list of acronyms and abbreviations that capture the historical and global compass of the subject. A 21-page chronology starts with the Zealot revolt against Rome in Judea in AD 66 and continues through the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. A 26-page introduction defines the topic, covers historical and contemporary patterns, and explains the classification of terrorist groups by type (state, revolutionary, or entrepreneurial). The hundreds of entries, covering 711 pages, vary widely in length, depending on the importance of and detail needed for the subject. The dictionary encompasses individuals, groups, events, doctrines, and concepts such as Power law, which is the mathematical relation between the numbers and intensity of events. The 2-page African National Congress entry notes that Jacob Zuma was sworn in as president of South Africa in May 2009. The 6-page essay on Sikh militants distinguishes between the three most prominent groups and shows how they have secured their place in Indian society, notably with the election of a Sikh as prime minister in 2004. A paragraph on the Tamil Tigers leads the user to a 7-page essay on the reconstituted Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which is current to their defeat in May 2009 in their last stronghold. At the end of the work is an extensive 85-page bibliography, with a helpful introduction and well-organized arrangement. This is an accurate, objective, and clearly written resource that will be useful in public and academic libraries. --Arthur Meyers

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