International Terrorists

Gr 7-10-Each of the nine chapters in this survey of political terrorism focuses on a particular person and/or group who has gained notoriety in the past 150 years. Four deal with the Middle East-Arafat and the PLO (which is not surprisingly already in need of updating); ``Carlos'' and his deadly connection to the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine); Abu Nidal; and Hezbollah in Lebanon. One chapter discusses an unusually duplicitous and ruthless 19th-century figure-Russian anarchist Sergei Nechaev. Michael Collins, the IRA's first leader (who was murdered by IRA terrorists for negotiating with the British in the 1920s); the German Baader-Meinhof Gang; the Italian Red Brigades; and Abimael Guzman and his leadership of Peru's The Shining Path are also included. Streissguth makes it clear that despite the counterproductive and often random violence that characterizes many of the terrorists' activities, the groups seem to live on long after the individuals involved have been killed or jailed. He describes the political situations that have bred the rise of terrorism in an evenhanded manner, but has no illusions about the violent, fascistic nature of the movements. He also shows the networks that tie together strange political bedfellows, who seem to have very little in common except their belief in bloodshed. A good beginning point for further research into any of the organizations represented here.-Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information.