The terrorist /

Contemporary terrorist activity has captured the attention of political scientists and other social scientists worldwide. Both public and governmental concern has raised the issue of motivation, and questions about the mentality of the terrorist. Taylor (applied psychology, University College, Cork, Ireland) has set out to probe the mind of the terrorist from the vantage point of individual psychology. Virtually all forms of terrorist activity are examined, ranging from political suicides through airplane hijackings. In a novel approach to the phenomenon of state terrorism, Taylor investigates the policing of the 1984 miner's strike in the UK. His goal is not primarily to find solutions to the terrorist scourge, but to contribute to a greater understanding of the terrorist mind. His conclusions question the naive, simple identification of the terrorist as a psychopath or fanatic. Taylor's study is divided into nine chapters, including an introduction. The chapters cover the identification and definition of terrorism, its nature, the relationship between terrorism and mental health, fanaticism, terrorist psychology, and terrorist processes and behavior. The study is heavily documented, although there is no separate bibliography. For upper-division undergraduate students, and faculty. -V. E. McHale, Case Western Reserve University