Promotional Information

A far-reaching history of terrorism across the world from its beginnings to the modern-day, from the highly acclaimed author of 'Sacred Causes' and 'Earthly Powers'. The paperback will include new material, covering the elections in Pakistan, the death of Benazir Bhutto and the lasting impact of these events. Basing his study on a wide range of sources and key players from the world of terrorism, Burleigh explains and defines the meaning of terrorism and marks its progression from its hard to trace beginnings to the modern-day. Burleigh takes us from the origins of terrorism in the Irish Republican Brotherhood -- the precursors of the IRA -- on to look at Tsarist Russia where the 'intelligentsia' launched attacks on organs of state, and left-wing fighting against 'Fascism' and 'Nazism' in the 70's and 80's in western Germany and Italy. But such nationalist terrrorism has in turn been eclipsed by international jihadist violence, largely driven by widespread resentment of the successful societes of the West. Burleigh explores the background and the milieu of people engaged in careers of political violence, and examines their various mindsets as revealed by their actions rather than words. He makes clear that the West has considerable resources to comprehend and combat terrorism and shows how history enables us to see how terrrorism can be effectively contained and countered - if only by avoiding some of the major mistakes of the past. An unrivalled study that sheds an insightful new light on a plight that threatens to affect the world at large for many years to come, 'Blood and Rage' establishes Michael Burleigh as one of the most original, learned and important historians of our time. Lead title / Michael Burleigh aims to make sense of the contemporary chaos surrounding terrorism by illustrating links and trends from a global perspective in this gripping, violent but compelling work. / The paperback will be fully updated to cover recent events. / Michael Burleigh is also the author of 'The Third Reich', which remains the definitive work on Nazi Germany, and won the Samuel Johnson Prize. It has sold 60k copies in the UK alone. / Will appeal to fans of Niall Ferguson's 'The War of the World' and Richard Dawkin's 'The God Delusion'. / Guaranteed review and feature coverage from this important historian.

About the Author

Michael Burleigh's two-part history of politics and religion, 'Earthly Powers' and 'Sacred Causes', were two of the most acclaimed books of 2005 and 2006 respectively. His work has been translated into fifteen languages and his 'The Third Reich: A New History', won the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2001. He writes for several newspapers on religion, history and politics. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Board at the Institut fur Zeitgeschichte in Munich and wrote this book while a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford. He is married and lives in London.

Reviews

'Bracingly opinionated!informative and absorbing!engaging and provocative.' Independent on Sunday 'Comprehensive, wide-ranging and superbly written !vivid and compelling.' Simon Heffer, Literary Review 'This timely and important books' relevance is embracing. [Burleigh] is a clear-eyed historian !he sets his targets in context !and then pulverises them with an orderly and ceaseless barrage of facts. "Blood & Rage" is in all sorts of ways an outstanding book.' Daily Telegraph 'Burleigh's evident ability to assimilate and communicate incisively ...a highly intelligent and comprehensive survey of recent terrorism.' Observer 'A magisterial tome, broad in scope, powerful in its argument and brimming with healthy rage...riveting.' Evening Standard 'The clearest, sanest and most knowledgeable voice is increasingly that of the historian Michael Burleigh. No one writes so well or so reliably, and this powerful book will give another boost to his reputation.' Daily Mail 'Written in Burleigh's usual cogent and trenchant style, the book can be highly recommended.' Sunday Telegraph Praise for 'Sacred Causes': 'Compelling!hugely ambitious!Burleigh is a writer who pulls no punches and seldom leaves a difficult question unasked.' Sunday Telegraph 'Impressive!formidable!his book deserves the widest possible readership.' Sunday Times

Burleigh (Earthly Powers), one of the leading English-language scholars of the role of ideas in the modern world, makes another major contribution in this pull-no-punches cultural study of terrorism as it has been lived and practiced for a century and a half. Burleigh sees modern terrorism's roots in the mid-19th century, with the emergence of the Irish Fenians, the Russian nihilists, the Western anarchists who used fear induced by violence to compensate for their lack of political power. Their tactics were adopted in the mid-20th century by movements seeking decolonization, like the Palestinian Black September, Italy's Red Brigades and Germany's Red Army Faction. By century's end, terrorism further mutated into a tool for marginalized "local nations" like the Basques. Most recently, terrorism has become identified with what Burleigh calls the "world rage of Islamism." Burleigh's case studies demonstrate mercilessly that terrorism is "a career, a culture, and a way of life" attractive for its own sake as well as its ostensible objectives. The terrorist milieu, the author demonstrates convincingly, is "morally squalid," intellectually bankrupt and politically barren. Burleigh considers the lessons history has to teach us, though he eschews policy recommendations. (Mar.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.