Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Terrorism. By Patricia D. Nezley. Detroit, Mich.: Greenhaven Press Thomson Gale, 2007. 1 vol. 365 p. $77.45. ISBN 10: 0-7377-3235-0; 13: 978-0-7377-3235-1.

In the preface, the definition of terrorism “is that it involves deliberate attacks on people or property in an attempt to use fear and chaos to force a government to change its policies or a citizenry to bow to the will of the state.” The definition is modified because this view ignores the fact that such attacks are sometimes “motivated not by a political agenda but out of hatred for a religious or ethnic group.” Even if the action is political, it is supposedly motivated by a noble purpose. It was interesting to this reviewer that one entry was “The Boston Tea Party,” but as the editor points to an old adage, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Students who wish to debate terrorism vs. freedom fighting or the acknowledged reasons for the activities of different groups will find their basic information here. Discussions of various types of terrorism, terrorist’s methods and motivations will provide background, and they will learn about terrorist groups and individuals from the past to the present from all over the world. For the current events class, this is a good place to start comparing what is found in a newspaper or magazine to what is an explanation from another point of view.