The Future of Terrorism: ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and the Alt-Right

Historian and terrorism expert Laqueur (No End to War), writing here with naval terrorism specialist Wall, promises readers a whistle-stop tour of the history and theory of terrorism, starting with a brief glance at the earliest appearance of the concept and ending with the latest developments as related to the Islamic State. The result is less than a resounding success; Laqueur moves so quickly that the text often becomes bewildering, and nonspecialists will be hard put to follow the arguments. There are also factual errors; for example, Laqueur puts the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland down to the planning of a group called "the Invincibles"—while members of this collective may well have been involved, most historians of Ireland would agree that they were responsible for two political killings in 1882 and little else.