Terorism, ideology and revolution: the origins of modern political violence

The primary aim of this book is to bring the combined resources of political theory, political science and history to bear on the interpretation of modern terrorism, with a view to establishing a coherent analytic framework which has hitherto been largely absent from the literature on the subject.

The book begins by focusing attention on the precise historical point at which modern terrorism first appeared. This was the appearance in Europe of a new ideological style of politics at the time of the French Revolution. Subsequent essays examine the first dramatic manifestation of the union of violence with ideology, which occurred with the French Revolution Terror; the latter advent of fully-fledged 'regime terrorism' in the West with the appearance in the twentieth century of the Nazi government; and the part played by violence in the Irish Nationalist Movement.

Thereafter the historical perspective is broadened by the inclusion of case studies which analyse the interaction of the new Western style of ideological politics with indigenous traditions of violence in the Third World. A final essay considers the problems of control posed by the spread of terrorism throughout the world.