Voices of Terror: Manifestos, Writings, and Manuals of Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Other Terrorists from Around the World and Throughout the Age

By: Laqueur, Walter

Book Overview

Renowned historian and international scholar Walter Laqueur offers a sweeping survey of writing on one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: the use of violence as a tool for political change.

From ancient Roman tyrannicides and French revolutionaries to the Weathermen and Osama Bin Laden, Voices of Terror brings together 120 of history's most controversial figures, militant organizations and guerrilla groups for...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594290350
• ISBN13: 9781594290350
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Length: 520 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Just what you need . . .

This is a wonderful compendium of original sources which I'm using in a graduate level social science course on terrorism. Readings run the gamut, from Lenin and Bakunin, to Marighella and Che Guevera, to today's modern terrorists. There's a little introductory essay at the beginning of each section and the readings are short enough that you can assign several during each week, and pick and choose snippets to augment your regular textbook. I was pleased to find this resource since I had been hunting for something similar for awhile.

Voices of Terror reveals "their" words

Anyone who studies history is familiar with the all-too-often single-mindedness of many historical accounts. Terrorists have motivation for their acts, and we have an opportunity to see the motivation in the historical figures' own words. Manifestos, procedures, doctrines,... some insight into the minds of the "other side." Reading these excerpts, one can begin to gain a handle on understanding the minds of some of history's least understood characters.

Slow but mint

It took a while to get to me in Australia, but it was in perfect condition.

Starting Place for my Generation's Challenge

My Humanities professor once remarked that every generation has it's challenge like WW2 or Vietnam, and continued to say that 9-11 and the ensuing refocus on terrorism would be this generations challenge. Voices of Terror is a great place to start for anyone wanting to learn more about terrorism. The ideas can be a little repetitive, but the basic ideas behind terrorism have not really changed for thousands of years...i.e group a feels like group b has done them wrong and they have chosen to fight back using terrorism. The methods have changed over time, but not the basic ideas behind terrorism. The book begins with writings from Sophicles and other classical philosophical figures, goes through Lenin, Trotsky, IRA, LTTE, Al Qaeda, among others, even covers groups I knew nothing about previously like the FARC in Columbia and others. The problem with anthologies is everything is a very small sample, but generally the reader grasps the basic point.

If you want to know what we are up against...

"Voices of Terror" is an important book. It does not have a narrative, simply some introductory and explanatory text to tie things together as it is simply a reference for those who wish to study the history, present state and future of terrorism. Assembled by Walter Laquer, who has a long background as a security and foreign policy, an expert with a deep knowledge of the Middle East, it is a well researched and selective compendium of written texts and manifestos that have justified and advanced the cause of political assassination and terrorism. First of all, Laquer correctly criticizes the use of the phrase "War on Terror" as he like others reminds us that terror is a means, a strategy that different groups with different agendas use, but it is not an ideology. Perhaps the Bush Administration is hesitant about declaring war on "Islamic Radicalism" or "Islamic Terror." The series of documents begin in the classical era with the justifications for tyrannicide and then move into the Enlightenment and era of the early political revolutions with writings from France and then 19th century radical tracts from Russia, there is then a section on 20th century terror with manifestoes from the Irish Republican movement, the Palestinian terrorists, our home grown Weather Underground and Europe's Red Army Faction, both of whom resorted to terror. Laquer includes interpretations of terrorism from Goldman, Marx, Lenin and Trotsky. Part Two is a series of four sections devoted to guerrilla war from the 19th century to the present day. The final component of the book, Part Three, is devoted to the "Origins of 21st Century Terrorism" and it includes the religious justifications from many of the major Islamic intellectuals who have written in an effort to normalize the use of terrorism. Unfortunately, they have succeeded all too well. The final section of Part Three is another series of manifestoes from groups as disparate as the Tamil Tigers, The Red Brigade and Jemaah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia. This book is truly vital reading as it is important to realize that there is an ideology behind those who stalk innocent men, women and children in New York, in Spain or Iraq. There has to be elaborate justifications to convince so many to commit he most heinous murders - and there are. To know what type of threat we face, we must understand what motivates those who threaten us and "Voices of Terror" is a stark look into the heart of the terrorist movements. Jeffrey Morseburg