Provocative ... controversial.
Publishers Weekly
A thought-provoking primer for politicians seeking something to stimulate them.
The American Conservative
A useful and accessible text for scholars and policymakers alike ... English's book brings much needed attention to the state and the central role it plays in sustaining and ending terrorism ... [it] explores both the analytical and ... Read morepractical problems associated with terrorism.
Terrorism and Political Violence
English negotiates a sophisticated path through the questions of definition and explanation that have long dominated this field ... [The book] retains a credibility and persuasiveness lacked by many of its competitors [and] advances our understanding of terrorism, its costs and its consequences considerably.
International Affairs
Thoughtful, informed meditation on the state of terrorism research.
Lawrence Freedman, Foreign Affairs
Excellent ... a highly accessible, incisive and erudite introduction to the nature, morality, causes and responses to contemporary terrorism rooted in a thorough engagement with history ... a fresh and stimulating perspective on the perennial issues of this perplexing form of contemporary political violence.
Richard Jackson, Kantian Review
This book strikingly presents questions to scholars, practitioners, and society as a whole as to what the exact meaning of terrorism should be. More important, it presents an argument for a new approach to combating and understanding terrorism ... [P]assionate and persuasive.
International Social Science Review
A sober corrective to some dangerous recent misconceptions.
Prospect
This is a very fine book. It is elegant and persuasively argued from a man who really does know what he is talking about. The long view of Richard English is vital in an age of the knee-jerk.
Fergal Keane, BBC Special Correspondent
The best guide to this subject.
Simon Jenkins, London Evening Standard
The clearest thinking on this scourge to have come along in many years.
John Arquilla, Foreign Policy
If you want to read one book which explains the phenomenon of terrorism, gives you a good historical grasp of the subject while also providing a dispassionate roadmap to guide you through the term's complex meanderings and its many intellectual cul-de-sacs, then this is the book for you. It is outstanding: short and beautifully written, it manages also to be thoroughly on top of its subject.
Conor Gearty, Irish Times
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