Inside Terrorism » (revised and expanded edition)

Bruce Hoffman is a professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is also a senior fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, and editor of the Columbia University Press series Columbia Studies in Terrorism and Irregular Warfare.

Hoffman traces the history of terrorism from its roots in the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution, to Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network. Along the way, he examines the rise of subnational groups like al-Qaeda and Japan's Aum sect and takes a closer look at the way terrorists are able to exploit media coverage.

Sunday Telegraph

The author has succeeded brilliantly. His predictions for the future are hardly comforting, but they should be heeded by all governments with an interest in world peace.