A good book can not only help pass the time during a long flight, a day on the beach or a rainy Sunday afternoon. It's also a great way to escape and travel to exotic places filled with action and adventure. If you like something that will make you think a little more, you may want to throw politics into the mix with some gripping terrorism fiction.
The most common definition of terrorism is that it involves the use of violent means towards a political end by creating fear in the civilian population. Many experts find this definition problematic, however. For example, you might argue that most revolutionary organizations trying to effect social change can then be labeled terrorists too.
Novels with espionage as theme are often great sources of stories about terrorists. Tom Clancy, for instance, is best known for his series of novels where the main character is Jack Ryan, a secret agent in the United States. Ryan often has to stop terrorists in a day's work, like in 'Patriot Games' as well as 'The Sum of all Fears'.
Terrorists aren't necessarily all male. Women have been involved in acts of terror since the beginning and someone like Leila Khaled, who hijacked planes for the Palestinian cause, became a cult heroine. John le Carre wrote 'The Little Drummer Girl' about an actress who becomes involved in the Palestinian liberation struggle initially to infiltrate a terrorist group but then because she comes to believe in the cause.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland have inspired many novels about terrorism. The Irish Republican Army was usually called a terrorist group and several books are centered around members of this organization. An example is 'A Prayer Before Dying' by Jack Higgins.
A very gripping book about terrorism is 'An Act of Terror'. Translated from the Afrikaans, it's South African writer Andre Brink's account of the life of a young Afrikaans-speaking photographer who is involved in a botched attempt at a terrorist action and has to flee across the country. It is set in apartheid South Africa, when liberation movements were banned and usually called terrorists.
Europe in the Seventies was a breeding ground for small leftist groups who committed acts of terror. The most famous were probably West Germany's Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, and Italy's Red Brigades. In the United States the Symbionese Liberation Army gained widespread notoriety when they kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, who then later joined the organization. Nobel Prize laureate Doris Lessing illustrated in 'The Good Terrorist' how naive and stupid some of these idealists could be.
Terrorism fiction is a gripping sub-genre that can keep finding new inspiration with the War on Terror still going strong. A good library or bookstore can be a good place to look for one of these books but you'll also be able to order some novels online. With such thrilling reading to be done, you'll want to hide away by turning off the phone and your email and just escape into another world.
The most common definition of terrorism is that it involves the use of violent means towards a political end by creating fear in the civilian population. Many experts find this definition problematic, however. For example, you might argue that most revolutionary organizations trying to effect social change can then be labeled terrorists too.
Novels with espionage as theme are often great sources of stories about terrorists. Tom Clancy, for instance, is best known for his series of novels where the main character is Jack Ryan, a secret agent in the United States. Ryan often has to stop terrorists in a day's work, like in 'Patriot Games' as well as 'The Sum of all Fears'.
Terrorists aren't necessarily all male. Women have been involved in acts of terror since the beginning and someone like Leila Khaled, who hijacked planes for the Palestinian cause, became a cult heroine. John le Carre wrote 'The Little Drummer Girl' about an actress who becomes involved in the Palestinian liberation struggle initially to infiltrate a terrorist group but then because she comes to believe in the cause.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland have inspired many novels about terrorism. The Irish Republican Army was usually called a terrorist group and several books are centered around members of this organization. An example is 'A Prayer Before Dying' by Jack Higgins.
A very gripping book about terrorism is 'An Act of Terror'. Translated from the Afrikaans, it's South African writer Andre Brink's account of the life of a young Afrikaans-speaking photographer who is involved in a botched attempt at a terrorist action and has to flee across the country. It is set in apartheid South Africa, when liberation movements were banned and usually called terrorists.
Europe in the Seventies was a breeding ground for small leftist groups who committed acts of terror. The most famous were probably West Germany's Red Army Faction, also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, and Italy's Red Brigades. In the United States the Symbionese Liberation Army gained widespread notoriety when they kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst, who then later joined the organization. Nobel Prize laureate Doris Lessing illustrated in 'The Good Terrorist' how naive and stupid some of these idealists could be.
Terrorism fiction is a gripping sub-genre that can keep finding new inspiration with the War on Terror still going strong. A good library or bookstore can be a good place to look for one of these books but you'll also be able to order some novels online. With such thrilling reading to be done, you'll want to hide away by turning off the phone and your email and just escape into another world.
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