The making of a terrorist : recruitment, training, and root causes /

Terrorism and its pervasive and constant threat are realities of contemporary society throughout the world. A number of books have been published in recent years (e.g., David J. Whittaker's The Terrorism Reader and Jonathan R. White's Terrorism: An Introduction) in an attempt to explain, and ultimately prevent, acts of terrorism. In this three-volume set, Forest (director, Terrorism Studies, U.S. Military Academy, West Point; coeditor, Homeland Security and Terrorism) brings together articles by over 50 international experts that address three areas: Recruitment (Volume 1), Training (Volume 2), and Root Causes (Volume 3). The word terrorism comes from the Latin terrere (to cause to tremble), explains Forest, and although there is no consensus on the modern definition of terrorism, it is commonly known as "acts of politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents." With a special emphasis on the psychological, social, ideological, and religious aspects of terrorism recruitment, Volume 1 reveals the numerous sources of recruitment that terrorists groups utilize. These include prisons, the web, video games, hip-hop, militia movements, and radical political groups. Volume 2 examines how and where terrorists are trained and gives insight into such topics as teaching tools and training manuals. It also includes discussions of a number of cases studies (e.g., al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Christian militias and cults). Volume 3 focuses on the political and socioeconomic factors that contribute to terrorism on the global, regional, and local levels. Although the high cost of the set may limit interest to larger libraries, this is a wise investment.-Tim Delaney, SUNY at Oswego (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.