 The Rise of Militant Islam, Anthony Tucker-Jones, Despite the rather sensationalist cover this is a highly detailed and thought provoking book which chronicles the Western powers campaigns against the threat of militant Islam. It looks at the countries involved in turn covering far more than the traditional look at the Middle East and Afghanistan, detailing conflicts from the Russian Republics and Bosnia to North Africa and Sudan. It helps the reader understand the wider context of Islamic terrorism and the complex international interactions where the misguided policies of West then had an impact across several countries and in many ways helped grow the problem. It is very up to date and detailed but at times the level of detail can be hard to follow across several countries with a wide range of names; it does end on a hopeful if cynical note about how effective Western efforts have been.[read full review] |
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 The Counterterrorist Manual: A Practical Guide to Elite International Units, Leroy Thompson. This well illustrated and up to date book covers the world of those who hunt the terrorists when an incident takes place, from Special Forces to special police teams. It covers the background and evolution of counter terrorism using some up to date examples of counterterrorism operations. Chapters also look at unit organization, training, selection and equipment, interspersed with many colour plates and diagrams. Its focus is very clearly on the teams that intervene during hostage or hijacking situations and does not cover the security and intelligence services and their operations against terrorist groups [read full review] |
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New Cloak, Old Dagger: How Britain's Spies Came in from the Cold, Michael Smith. This book was written in a period of transition. It looks at the changes to the intelligence services role and the threats to security that emerged following the end of the Cold War, but it was written before September 11th and the emergence of the war on terror [see more] 
