The 2nd Edition of “Terrorism: A History by Randall D. Law is an interesting look at history through the ages. The book illustrates that terrorism is as old as human civilization, but it has changed throughout the times.
This book is a good overview of terrorism without going into any depth of any event. However, the author includes a Bibliography at the end of each chapter. These contain a ton of references for anyone who wants further information on specific events or times.
The book, after all, is a history book that the author wrote for use in a college level class, and it reads as such. With that said, it is readable and interesting. And the author did a very good job of describing the history of terrorism and weaving everything together. The analysis helps the reader understand more than just a listing of events. The book is definitely good for the student who wants an academic look at the history of terrorist events, but I think it will also help others in the security fields better understand the history to better predict and deal with future terrorism.
At the end of the book, the author briefly, and I mean very briefly, touches on the future of terrorism, anti-terrorism today, and counterterrorism today. I would really like to see him write more on these areas. The deserve much more than the mention he provides here. But I do understand why he included what he did, because the focus of this text was history, not these three areas.
If you are wanting a very good overlook of the history of terrorism, this book is a great place to start. For some, it will be enough. For others, who want more, this book provides the resources to expand your research into any incident or era you are interested in.
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