About the Book
An extraordinary cast, globe-spanning action, this is the gripping, era-defining origin story for today's conflicts
Immersive, globe-spanning and full of detail and drama, The Revolutionists is an unprecedented account of a seismic decade that transformed the modern world.
In the 1970s, a network of radical extremists terrorised the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the glamorous young Leila Khaled with her jewellery made from grenade rings, the hard-drinking Carlos the Jackal in shades and designer suits, and the radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. United by their hatred of Israel, capitalism and 'Western imperialism', they unleashed a series of audacious attacks that brought governments to their knees and glued the world to their televisions in morbid fascination.
Drawing on decades of research, recently declassified government files, secret documents, and original interviews with hijackers, spies, witnesses and victims, Jason Burke takes us into the lives and minds of the perpetrators of these often-deadly operations. Through their eyes - and the eyes of the unrelenting agents who hunted them down - he uncovers a dark, complex world of loyalty, betrayal and commitment to radical change at any cost.
Set against the backdrop of the Cold War and packed with revelations about iconic events such as the deadly attack on the Munich Olympic, Israel's raid on Entebbe, the Iranian revolution and the rise of Islamic extremism, this is a sweeping, scrupulously reported historical narrative with the pace and suspense of a thriller.
The Revolutionists pitches the reader into these tumultuous times. Ultimately, it shows how a campaign led by secular, leftist revolutionaries gave way to a far more lethal movement of conservative religious fanaticism that would dominate the decades to come. It is impossible to understand the world today without reading this history.
About the Author :
JASON BURKE, the International Security correspondent for the Guardian, has been a foreign correspondent for almost 30 years, reporting from the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and Africa.
He is one of the foremost writers on terrorism and the author of four critically acclaimed books- The New Threat from Islamic Militancy, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize; The 9/11 Wars, 'the best overview of the 9/11 decade in print' (The Economist); the ground-breaking Al-Qaeda- The True Story of Radical Islam and On the Road to Kandahar- Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World.
He lives near London.
Review :
Brilliant, beautifully researched, observed and written. An astonishing window not just into the origins of modern terrorism but also into our own age
A kaleidoscopic sweep through an extraordinary era told with cool authority and a novelist's eye for detail. Burke is a master in the field
If journalism is the first draft of history, then this is its second draft. A book that historians will be consulting and profiting from for many decades to come
Superb and monumental
An excellent, deeply researched, fascinating chronicle of lethal Middle Eastern conspirators and absurd western killers that is as irresistible and unputdownable as it is astonishing and relevant
Riveting … [The Revolutionists] is an absorbing history of terrorism in Europe and the Middle East … A deeply researched, ambitious and elegantly written book
[A] huge, roving and painstakingly researched account of the rise of modern terrorism
Magisterial … The Revolutionists [is] such an engaging, intelligible guide through a dense geopolitical period
A detailed and sweeping account of the origins of modern international terrorism
A deeply researched account of hijackings, hostage-takings and other terrorist activity in the 1970s, told with verve
Jason Burke's meticulously researched book is peopled by an array of colourful characters from terrorists to idealists and double agents. By melding eye-witness accounts with a deep understanding of politics and modern history, he shows how the hijackings and political murders of the late twentieth century led to the turbulence of the 21st. It makes for a riveting read
Spanning four continents and drawing on sources in a dozen languages . . . a flair for period detail . . . impressive
Fascinating . . . Burke [who] has reported thoughtfully on political violence for several decades . . . brings considerable experience to this detailed chronicle of hostage-taking, bombings, assassinations and other adventures. Full of vivid, intriguing detail . . . Though many of his characters have been villainized elsewhere, Burke treats them as complex human beings rather than caricatured monsters . . . Burke’s compellingly readable account . . . ranges widely . . . Burke’s rich narrative offers an abundance of evidence that, in terrorism and counterterrorism alike, far too many actors have exaggerated what violence will achieve
The Revolutionists is an incisive account of the rise of modern terrorism following the founding of the State of Israel. It manages to be both scholarly and engaging. A wonderful book for any reader interested in the Middle East and the curse of terror that has haunted the region - and the world - for too many years
Superb. In this deeply researched and grippingly told account of the ... radicals who held a gun to the head of Western governments in the 1970s, Burke confirms his credentials as our foremost commentator on modern terrorism
A deeply researched, original and immersive book that shines a light on the forces of radicalism and violence that shape our modern world
A captivating account of the origins of modern international terrorism with fascinating insights into the terrorists and their opponents. A must read to understand the contemporary Middle East and more
For this moment of political wildness and ideological extremism, Jason Burke, a distinguished foreign correspondent, has written a chillingly cautionary global history of political terrorism in the late Cold War. Deeply researched and engagingly written, this is a vivid, engrossing, and disturbing study of violent transnational attacks against innocent civilians in the name of leftist revolution, Palestinian nationalism, and Islamist radicalism
The Revolutionists is the authoritative true story of the encounter between leftist and Islamist radicalism, capturing in gripping and granular detail the events and ideas that elevated terrorism as a tool for political transformation. It is the culmination of years of masterful research ... The narrative is exciting, pacy and propelled forward by a cast of characters whose actions would defy all credulity if they were fictitious. By turns fascinating and heart-stopping, it is an addictive read and an extraordinary intellectual achievement
This is Jason Burke’s magnum opus, a hugely ambitious book that greatly benefits from his three decades of reporting on revolutionary violence. Burke seems to have read everything that is relevant about terrorism in multiple languages and talked to anybody who mattered on all sides of the conflicts he writes about. The book is propulsively written and is not only an account of the rise of leftist and Islamist terrorism in the 1960s and the decades that followed, but also a wonderfully evocative history of an era that reverberates today
Burke masterfully connects the dots, capturing the precise the moment the world shifted - subtly, profoundly and in ways we are only beginning to grasp. His book doesn't just illuminate the past, it brings clarity to the present
Burke is an experienced journalist, and he uses sources written in English, French, Arabic, Italian, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Spanish, Serbo-Croat and Hebrew to explain the motives, organisations and endless internecine disputes of the terrorist movements. The most arresting parts of his work, though, do not come from such careful analysis but from brief vignettes that are beyond easy explanation, and which remind us that behind the slogans, rituals and violence, terrorists might be human beings
