Terrorism

[Nigeyb]

I'm keen to read...


The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s (2025)

by

by Jason Burke


It's a biggie and I'll be doing it on audio


If anyone fancies a buddy in early 2026 then here's the place to reply

No pressure, I'll be reading it anyway


More info...

In the 1970s, a network of radical extremists terrorised the West with plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the beautiful young Leila Khaled with her jewellery made from grenade rings, the hard-drinking philanderer Carlos the Jackal sporting shades and open-neck shirts, and the radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. They sought to liberate the Palestinians and overthrow western imperialism, orchestrating spectacularly violent attacks that held governments to ransom and the world gripped to their television screens.

Drawing on decades of research, declassified archive material and original interviews with witnesses and participants, Jason Burke provides a masterful account of their exploits over the course of this dark decade. From Dawson's Field and the Munich Olympics to the Iranian Embassy Siege in London and the Beirut bombings of the early 1980s, he takes us into the lives and minds of the perpetrators of these attacks, as well as the government agents who sought to thwart and assassinate them. In the process, he shows how the extreme fringe of a secular, leftist, revolutionary movement ultimately birthed something altogether different and far more lethal: the violent expression of a fanatically conservative religious zealotry.

Gripping, globe-spanning and pulsing with drama, The Revolutionaries is the definitive account of the decade when terrorism took to the skies and transformed the world.

[Roman Clodia]

I definitely want to read that but it's dependent on getting it from a library as it's in hardback.

[Nigeyb]

B&H Libraries have five copies and four reserves

[Roman Clodia]

Ah, I haven't registered yet as have been waiting to have something with proof of address but will do. I popped into your Oxfam at the weekend - cute!

[Nigeyb]

Glad you approve

[Sam]

I have plans but probably further along in the year. My big read for January is going to be Effingers and at 864pp it will keep me through January and February but if I can find time, I will try to make it.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Sam

[Cphe]

Sam wrote: "I have plans but probably further along in the year. My big read for January is going to be Effingers and at 864pp it will keep me through January and February but if I can find ti..."

@Sam,

I am also planning to read that sometime next year. I've also put my hand up for The Way We Live Now with another group early next year.

[Sam]

Cphe wrote: "Sam wrote: "I have plans but probably further along in the year. My big read for January is going to be Effingers and at 864pp it will keep me through January and February but if I..."

Another Trollope still on my TBR. I hope to read at least one of his next year.

[Cphe]

@Sam,

Read He Knew He Was Right (even though he was wrong!!!) as a buddy read with two other wonderful ladies this year and we really enjoyed the novel no end. It generated quite a bit of discussion.

[Susan]

I picked it up for 99p somewhere or other so I would definitely be in.

My BIG read for next year will be On a Sea of Glass: The Life and Loss of the RMS Titanic

It is over 1660 pages long and is THE Titanic book.

[Susan]

Also, I want to read The Life and Death of Peter Sellers which is also over 1000 pages.

[Susan]

There are also a couple of books connected with terrorism on my non-fiction reading list in case anyone is interested. They are:

V13: The extraordinary gripping account of the Paris terror attacks by France’s leading non-fiction writer

and

Targeted: Beirut — The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror

[Nigeyb]

We did Buddy Reads of all of Trollope’s Palliser series. Here’s the final one…..

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It’s a fab series

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote: "Also, I want to read The Life and Death of Peter Sellers which is also over 1000 pages."


I fancy that one too. But I’m not sure I’m going to get to it in 2026. I look forward to your thoughts Susan.

[Susan]

I will let you know if I get to it, but definitely I want to read the Titanic book first. It is, absolutely, my reading project next year.

[Susan]

It's shocking that we are already thinking of books we won't have time for next year though!

I have definitely made more effort to read personal reads this year. And more non-fiction.

When are you planning to read The Revolutionists, Nigeyb?

[Nigeyb]

I’m not sure Susan


If there had been any immediate enthusiasm I’d have prioritised it

I’ll now just read it when the fancy takes me, probably in the next few months

[Cphe]

Nigeyb wrote: "We did Buddy Reads of all of Trollope’s Palliser series. Here’s the final one…..

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/......"

@Nigeyb,

You're not wrong - loved the series

[Susan]

OK no problem. It's on my TBR list too so will be interested to hear your thoughts.

[Roman Clodia]

Has anyone started The Revolutionists yet? I picked it up on Kindle offer (thanks Susan!) and it looks fascinating but I won't be able to start it till I've finished my current reads.

[Nigeyb]

Not yet


I hope to fit it in soon. Audiobook for me

[Roman Clodia]

Ok. Shall we just use this thread to chat about it? I'll no doubt be open-mouthed about things I read.

[Nigeyb]

Let’s use this thread


I am looking forward to your thoughts and opinions

[G]

One of the libraries i have access to just obtained the audiobook. It’s 25 hours long! I’m in the queue. It should be ready for me in a week or two.

[Sam]

I have the book and it is tempting but I have commitments that are getting in the way. I'm a bit uncomfortable with the topic wondering how Burke will treat the subject. I have not read his books prior. I dislike books that demonize one side or another when covering conflicts no matter what time or ideology and much prefer books that offer balanced views or use approaches that that do not try to influence judgement. The concept of "terrorism, is so politically loaded that we now see the term bandied about by any side's propaganda. Does anyone know how Burke treats his subjects?

[Roman Clodia]

Yes, I shared your concern, Sam - I haven't read Burke before but he's a Guardian journalist who has been on this beat for a long time. He notably doesn't use the term 'terrorism' which, as you say, is and can be appropriated by anyone (that old cliche that one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter). From the blurb and contents it seems to span the political spectrum.

[Sam]

Roman Clodia wrote: "(that old cliche that one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter)..."

Exactly my thoughts while I was writing! I am not adverse to reading books by authors with whom I have major disagreements, but the quality of the writing and how the slant of the opinion is stated is important.

[Roman Clodia]

You're more open than me then as I won't generally read history/politics books from writers with right-wing or other views that I don't share - I can always feel my angry stress levels rising!

[Roman Clodia]

Sam wrote: "I'm a bit uncomfortable with the topic wondering how Burke will treat the subject."

I have such a book hangover from reading Toni Morrison that I can't start another fiction read at the moment, so have read the prologue/introduction to this. It's thoughtful and measured and I wanted to share the fact, brought up earlier, that he doesn't use the term 'terrorist' as a noun, only as an adjective.

It focuses on the Middle East (so bypasses e.g. IRA campaigns in the time period) which has been Burke's journalist beat for about thirty years.

[Roman Clodia]

I'm already open-mouthed at the innocence of airport security in 1970. Two hijackers have just boarded a plane in Germany carrying a gun and grenades completely undetected!

They also have a protocol not to harm people on the flight though they can use weapons as self defence.

[Nigeyb]

Yes, security was crazily lax back then. At the same time huge sections of the plane would be puffing away on cigarettes

[Roman Clodia]

Wowza! As if recycled air isn't bad enough, recycled smoke-polluted air... Kind of amazing anyone survived life in the 'olden days'!

[Roman Clodia]

This book is so gripping! I hope Burke's going to discuss where the funds for the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) comes from as the hijackers have been put up in swish hotels, have first-class seats and now extensive facial surgery to disguise appearance like something out of James Bond!

Fascinating to see a female hijacker released without any criminal proceedings, giving press interviews, and turned into a celebrity.

[Roman Clodia]

Also interesting to see the inspirations for Palestinian armed revolutionary groups at this time: the Viet Cong fighting the American invasion, Algerians fighting French colonial rule and the ANC in their struggle against apartheid. No mention of the IRA.

[Nigeyb]

You're doing a great job of whetting my appetite for this one RC

[Roman Clodia]

It reads like a thoughtful and well-researched action thriller (Day of the Jackal, perhaps) and I'm finding it impossible to put down. I can't imagine you not being engrossed. Would you remember any of the plane hijackings from the 1970s?

The contrast between the American and European airlines and El Al is striking - the former seem to be taken by surprise, the latter are already carrying armed security people on board - not surprising, of course, with tensions heightened after the 1967 war.

This is also an education in Palestinian politics.

[Nigeyb]

That sounds about right - it's gonna be catnip!


Yes, I recall the high profile hijackings of the 1970s

[Roman Clodia]

This is really interesting on radicalism in 1970s Japan - not something I knew anything about. Also how this responded to Vietnam.

Also the Baader-Meinhof group who I do know a little about, though not like this: 'Baader now refused to give up his tight velvet trousers even on an assault course'! And the cultural clash between the Germans and Palestinians as the former want to sunbathe naked and drink...

We've discussed before how much ordinary Germans knew during the war and while I'm sure there's no single definitive answer (other than 'it depends'), this book does draw a connection between radical actions and horror as Nazi atrocities are revealed during the war trials in the 1960s, and a younger generation disillusioned and angry that it seems people in power have been given immunity for the war.

[Roman Clodia]

Nigeyb wrote: "Yes, I recall the high profile hijackings of the 1970s"

Ah, you might have 'spoilers' then! I haven't known any of the outcomes so far.

[Sam]

I am going to start today.. Set up a Terrorists topic if you wish.

[Roman Clodia]

That's great, Sam. I think we'll continue on this thread. Looking forward to your thoughts.

I've just read the distressing chapter on the Munich Olympics. So many interesting points that I don't remember from the film.

[Susan]

I recall smoking on planes and definitely on tubes. You could hardly see to enter the train! As a non-smoker, I was pleased when it was finally banned, but it caused a lot of fuss at the time.

I will get to this one but I have just started the mammoth Peter Sellers biography by Roger Lewis so won't be for a while. Interested to hear your thoughts and will follow the comments.

[Roman Clodia]

I'm liking this a lot, Susan - and I'm not always good at reading non-fiction but this is unputdownable. It's taken a bit of a JlC turn now...

[Roman Clodia]

Susan wrote: "I recall smoking on planes and definitely on tubes. You could hardly see to enter the train!"

I remember smoking being allowed at stations but not actually on trains. It must have been horrific on the tube, especially when underground.

[Susan]

I think I was used to it, but I was pleased when they changed it. Everyone smoked back then - I even remember struggling when being sent to the staffroom at school as the teachers were just in a fug of smoke!

[Roman Clodia]

Ooh, Carlos the Jackal was given his name by the press because they found a copy of Day of the Jackal at his girlfriend's house.

I never knew about his first assassination attempt in London - and 1973 oil crisis when streetlights were switched off, the TV closed down at 10.30 and police had to walk instead of use their cars!

[Susan]

I heard that about Carlos the Jackal, possibly in a Ben Macintyre book?

I remember 1973 well, although I was a child. The 3-day week, candles and no television and piles of rubbish! I found using candles very exciting as I recall.

[Roman Clodia]

I always thought that was because of a miners strike, I never realised it was Arab oil-producing countries weaponising oil against the US for supporting Israel.

The only event that's been familiar to me so far is the Munich Olympics. I'm so glad to be reading this.

[Roman Clodia]

Oddly, I'm finding Carlos the Jackal one of the least interesting characters and his chapters drag for me.