This authoritative work provides an essential perspective on terrorism by offering a rare opportunity for analysis and reflection at a time of ongoing violence, chilling threats, and renewed reprisals. In it, some of the best international specialists working on the subject today examine terrorism's long and complex history from antiquity to the present day and find that terror, long the weapon of the weak against the strong, is a tactic as old as warfare itself. Beginning with the Zealots of Antiquity, the contributors discuss the Assassins of the Middle Ages, the 1789 Terror movement in Europe, Bolshevik terrorism during the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, "resistance" terrorism during World War II, and Latin American revolutionary movements of the late 1960s. Finally, they consider the emergence of modern transnational terrorism, focusing on the roots of Islamic terrorism, al Qaeda, and the rise of the contemporary suicide martyr. Along the way, they provide a groundbreaking analysis of how terrorism has been perceived throughout history. What becomes powerfully clear is that only through deeper understanding can we fully grasp the present dangers of a phenomenon whose repercussions are far from over.

 这部权威性的作品提供了一个关于恐怖主义的重要视角，在暴力不断、威胁不断、报复不断的情况下，提供了一个难得的分析和思考的机会。在这本书中，一些当今研究这一主题的最好的国际专家研究了恐怖主义从古代到今天的漫长而复杂的历史，并发现恐怖长期以来是弱者对抗强者的武器，是一种与战争本身一样古老的战术。从古代的狂热者开始，作者们讨论了中世纪的刺客、欧洲的1789年恐怖运动、俄罗斯革命期间的布尔什维克恐怖主义、斯大林主义、第二次世界大战期间的 "抵抗 "恐怖主义，以及20世纪60年代末的拉丁美洲革命运动。最后，他们考虑了现代跨国恐怖主义的出现，重点是伊斯兰恐怖主义、基地组织的根源，以及当代自杀殉道者的崛起。一路走来，他们对历史上如何看待恐怖主义进行了突破性的分析。令人印象深刻的是，只有通过更深入的了解，我们才能完全掌握这一现象目前的危险，其影响远未结束。