Author: Various
ISBN No:
Review date: 13/12/2025
No of pages: 0
Publisher: Sage Publications
Year of publication:
Brief:
About the editor and authors
Gus Martin is Associate Professor of Public Administration & Public Policy at California State University. He is chair of the Department of Public Administration & Public Policy and coordinator of the Criminal Justice Administration program. His research and professional interests include juvenile justice, terrorism and extremism. Pamala Griset is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests include the study of terrorism, sentencing policy and the administration of justice. Sue Mahan is an Associate Professor in the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Central Florida. Her research interests include women in the criminal justice system, crime, drugs and women.
For any security professionals, who may have undertaken a period of academic study, books from Sage will be very familiar, as they are synonymous with quality research and writing.
These welcome books from Sage relate to terrorism and provide a most complete overview of the subject as well as some really in-depth articles. The first book, Understanding Terrorism, is probably the only book any security professional need buy to gain a wide understanding of the subject. This is a most complete publication and it covers all the subject areas a reader would expect to find, from the concept of terrorism, the political nature of terrorism, the tactics, and so on. What is really excellent is each section is concluded with a brief summary and overview, a list of key terms, recommended websites and a detailed list of further reading. Even after the reader has completed each section they can quickly return to earlier subjects and using the summary re-acquaint themselves with the main points; a very useful feature when addressing such a large topic as terrorism.
This book is usefully punctuated with discussion boxes and the author through use of some quite challenging questions tests not only the readers understanding but also their position on a number of issues. For example, what checks and balances are needed to ensure that democracies do not move towards permanent authoritarianism?
The second book, New Era of Terrorism, is comprised of some excellent papers and again being an American publication is obviously concerned with terrorism in the context of 9-11. Within the selected papers are those that span the discussion from, for example the nature of the Muslim response to terrorism, Islam debates over suicide bombers and the future of Muslim alliances in the fight against the terrorist. In addition there is a very stimulating discussion relating to the threat from nuclear terrorism. This selection of edited articles has been carefully gathered from a number of very reputable and well-established journals, such as The Atlantic Monthly and The New Republic. The editor has drawn together a collection of texts that provide an appropriate academic background to the study of terrorism and this book really complements the first book’s quite practical approach to the subject.
The third and final book, Terrorism in Perspective, builds naturally on the first two publications and provides not only a very useful and practical discussion of the key issues, such as the history of terrorism but also includes a couple of selected articles at the end of each section. If you really want to scare yourself I cannot recommend more highly the discussion on Unconventional Terrorist Tactics, particularly for me the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway. While it is widely accepted that the attack failed to cause the fatalities sought by the group the fact that the extent and nature of their activities prior to the attack went undetected is staggering in the extreme. It begs the question: what are other groups planning? One of the final papers in this book is an American’s view of surveillance and identification systems employed in the UK. Should any security professional be involved in the CCTV market they would be well advised to read this fascinating paper very carefully indeed, for the author seems to suggest that given the choice between the threat of terrorism or adequate security provision they would choose the former option. A most stimulating article indeed and one that perhaps best illustrates the quality of this book.
In summary, these three really excellent books taken together provide a very complete and detailed study of terrorism. However, if budgets will not extend to buying all three books may I suggest Understanding Terrorism, but then save hard for the other two!
Martin Wright
1) Understanding Terrorism: challenges, perspectives, and issues by Gus Martin. Paperback, 512 pages, $48.95, ISBN: 0-7619-2616-X.
2) The New Era of Terrorism: selected readings by Gus Martin. Paperback, 291 pages, $36.95. ISBN: 0-7619-8873-4.
3) Terrorism in Perspective by Pamala Griset and Sue Mahan. Paperback, 391 pages, $49.95. ISBN 0-7619-2404-3. All published by Sage Publications. For details visit www.sagepublications.com
