"Best book on terrorists and terrorism?" Topic

What is the best book (in English) that describes a terrorist organization, terrorists, terrorist modus operandi, and terrorist operations?

A) Killing Rage by Eamon Collins
B) See no Evil by Robert Baer
C) The Cell by Miller, Stone, and Mitchell
D) The New Jackels by Reeve
E) Bin Laden, the Man who declared war on America, by Bodanski
F) 1000 Years for Revenge by Peter Lance
G) Terror at Beslan by John Giduck
H) Future Jihad by Walid Phares
I) American Jihad by Steve Emerson
J) Teaching Our Kids not to Kill by Grossman and DeGaetano
K) The Terrorist Next Door by Daniel Levitas
L) Hunting Eric Rudolph By Schuster and Stone
M) Insurgency and Terrorism by O'Neill
N) Hezbollah by Norton
O) Hezballah by Hala Jaber
P) The Base by Jane Corbin
Q) Bin Laden by Adam Robinson
R) Through Our Enemies Eyes by Anonymous
S) Sacred Rage by Robin Wright
T) Blood and Rage by Michael Burleigh
U) The Al Qaeda Threat by Venzke and Ibrahim

Can't say, though I suspect Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and ISIS will all be very disappointed that there are no books named after them, and that they didn't make the list.

Martin Dillon has written some interesting books on Northern Irish terrorism. God and the Gun is a decent primer.

I doubt anyone has ever gamed it yet though. Has anyone?

Mao Tse Tung wrote a rather good "how-to" book on the subject. Slightly weird dialectic colouring.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, issues 1 – 155.
It details the operations, tactics, and structure of a terrorist organization.

The question is nonsense. Terrorists don't conform to a layout, they aren't an army, they don't have defined tactics. Each group, assuming it can be defined, functions in a largely unique manner.
Therefore, the study of Cobra is every bit as valid. And more fun.

Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla by David Kilcullen is the work that finally made me understand why the terrorists and organized crime groups are so difficult to defeat. It does a very good job of footnoting its information some of which are academic articles available online. I recommend it even though I am dubious as to his thesis with regards to it being that much of a change in situation.

Terrorists don't conform to a layout, they aren't an army, they don't have defined tactics.

That's not entirely true. There are proven tactics, and there was significant cross-pollination between the various groups during the '60s and '70s. For Islamic groups, there is a kind of institutional memory that they can draw off of.

That said, their approaches can diverge, depending on how secure their base of operations is.

Unfortunately for the original poster, I haven't worked in the library for a long time, so can't remember any of the good books on specifics. The one that does pop into my head isn't really a tactics one, more of a politics/history one: link

"I doubt anyone has ever gamed it yet though. Has anyone?"

Northern Ireland? yes, although not a subject to everyones taste of course.

There are various studies of modern political violence, but like Meiczyslaw, I'm a bit stuck for specific titles. There is a very interesting book on Sabate and his resistance group in Francoist Spain, umm 'Guerilla EXtraordinary'? And pages of ink have been spilled about the IRA, and the various 1970s left wing radical groups.

Menachim Begins 'The Revolt' is an interesting account of a successful guerilla insurgency from the victors pov. I would imagine Castros autobiography is in a similar vein but I haven't read that.

If willing to risk a lengthy prison sentence in some jurisdictions, you may wish to seek out the 'The Anarchist Cookbook'. A caveat which is true for much writing on terrorism.

So, is it really a good idea to have a thread entitled 'Best books on terrorism?'

I have seen it gamed though mostly as several exercises.

Yes Martin it can be taken that maybe we shouldn't post such, but then again, it is all about being in the press daily.

I did stay away from the Anarchist Cookbook because it is in fact a poor man's how to…not my intent. I also stayed away from Al Qaeda's and ISIS's publications in English – again more how to that will get you arrested or dead.

I didn't list the Long War and many other IRA books though I'd be willing to read some more if they were absolutely riveting or clarifying and alas most aren't…

BOOM,My Life as a Suicide Bomber.
By Mohammad Bin Xplodine.

A short book in fact the title is all he wrote I believe :) as he didn't complete the book after the his first lesson :+D
Times book list says:A very exciting yet explosive beginning and a scattered ending- a must read.
Cheers y-all

"The Accidental Guerilla" by David Kilcullen (mentioned above) … is well worth a look.

Includes a (relevant today) 'cultural' analysis of the causes of insurgency/terrorism, but also discusses concepts of 'assymetrical' warfare, and the "ideal" 'wholistic' approach to counterinsurgency (political, economic, cultural, media, … and military/policing).
Well worth as a place to start/look for understanding modern (certainly modern Middle-eastern) insurgency.

At the time this came out (?2011?) it changed a lot of 'important-at-the-moment' people's perspectives.

Some interesting perspectives on the causes of the 2005+ sectarian bloodbath in Iraq.

Deepends what youre looking for theres a few "Partisans manuals" out there – the WW2 Red Army partisan fielbook is a good read and von Dach's "Total Resistance" (I think) is the equivalent Swiss guide to guerilla warfare.

Here's the book on how not to be one.

I agree with your references on Hezbollah.

I found "34 Days Israel, Hezbollah, and the War in Lebanon" by Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff to be a fascinating account of the 2006 war, obviously a key time in the organisation's recent history. From the Israeli point of view, but plenty of information about Hezbollah.

I know it's not quite what you asked, but I usually find that academic / think tank reports, often available in PDF format on the web, are an easier way of getting good outlines – they are better structured and signposted for dipping into than many books' narratives. e.g. on Hezbollah, I've still got a 2010 Washington Institute of Near East Policy 60 pager
link

I also like CSIS.org, Congressional Research Service, RAND etc etc (maybe this should be a separate post!
Regards,
Phil

In terms of gaming, I know people who've run IRA vs Brit Army games but they were mostly the straight up gun battles.

It's probably easier to find info on guerilla warfare (Vietnam, Afghanistan, various guerillas around the world) from an "opposing forces" view than on terrorist groups.

The few things I've read have more been about psychology and large-scale efforts to resist and disarm such groups.

edit: If you dig around, there's papers and reports from various US police think tanks on how to tackle potential domestic terror groups, like sovereign citizen and militia movements. Might have some insights that could be gaming-related.

I'd suggest there is no one template for how or why a 'terrorist' organisation exists .

The history of the Tamil Tigers warrants scrutiny. (although work hard to find a 'politically neutral' version.)

"Diary of a VietCong" is a good viewpoint on some pretty big world events ..from a VietCong spy.

"Buddhas Warriors" ie; the story of the attempted resistance (supported by the CIA) of the Tibetans to the Chinese Invasion/occupation of Tibet in the 50's /60's is good reading too.

Surprised that no one has listed Che Guevara's book " On Guerrilla Warfare". Remember one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter so many of the books you want are not about terrorism as such.

Looking at it from the other side, Mark Urban's "Big Boys' Rules" about SAS operations against NI terrorism is superb.