Terrorism in the 21st Century (3rd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, engaging, and informative--but lacking
Review: Cindy Combs's "Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century" is generally a well-written text. Cogent and coherent, it provides introductory readers with a good basic overview of a complex phenomenon that should demand our attention. Combs covers many important topics on terrorism, from terrorism and the media, to counterterrorism, to terrorism and the law.

One of this book's greatest strengths is the penetrating questions it asks. Combs makes her readers think; for example, she underscores the difficulty that may lie in differentiating between terrorists killing for their cause and "freedom fighters" struggling for ethnic self-determination. Often, the criteria are far from wholly objective.

This being said, one of the book's greatest drawbacks (as other readers will no doubt notice) is its reliance on an outdated bibliography. Combs does justice to modern terrorism by citing some of the most noteworthy cases of the 1980s and 1990s, but the sources she uses to back up her analyses and conclusions are mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Certainly she should have found more current and relevant sources on which to base her theoretical constructs.

Thus it seems fair to say that the "suggested readings" Combs offers in her text might not be the best guide for new readers. Although Combs's style makes for easy reading and her book is engaging, this book is best read as one of a larger collection of texts on terrorism, not a source to rely on heavily.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, engaging, and informative--but lacking
Review: Cindy Combs's "Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century" is generally a well-written text. Cogent and coherent, it provides introductory readers with a good basic overview of a complex phenomenon that should demand our attention. Combs covers many important topics on terrorism, from terrorism and the media, to counterterrorism, to terrorism and the law.

One of this book's greatest strengths is the penetrating questions it asks. Combs makes her readers think; for example, she underscores the difficulty that may lie in differentiating between terrorists killing for their cause and "freedom fighters" struggling for ethnic self-determination. Often, the criteria are far from wholly objective.

This being said, one of the book's greatest drawbacks (as other readers will no doubt notice) is its reliance on an outdated bibliography. Combs does justice to modern terrorism by citing some of the most noteworthy cases of the 1980s and 1990s, but the sources she uses to back up her analyses and conclusions are mostly from the 1970s and 1980s. Certainly she should have found more current and relevant sources on which to base her theoretical constructs.

Thus it seems fair to say that the "suggested readings" Combs offers in her text might not be the best guide for new readers. Although Combs's style makes for easy reading and her book is engaging, this book is best read as one of a larger collection of texts on terrorism, not a source to rely on heavily.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad, But Not Great
Review: Combs book is easy to read, and students do not find it difficult to follow. I like the way she has broken the book down into chapters that make sense. This book takes a political science approach to the topic of terrorism, rather than historical or regional approach (Jonathan White's book takes the latter approach). I have used Combs book in the class room setting and find the students responds well to it. However, the latest edition, revised and published in 2000 still is very much out of date. The book reads as if it was written in the late 80s and never was updated except with one or two examples (some of which are wrong). There is very little discussion of the 90s, even though the first edition was published in 1997. Almost all of the reference cited and works recommended for further reading are from the early-70s to mid-80s. I do believe that terrorism is an ever changing phenomenon, and disappointed that Combs has not done a better job of updating this work. While we all make errors, myself included, there are plenty in this book that could have been easily avoided. Yet, if you are beginning your quest to know more about terrorism, this isn't a bad start--it just isn't the best one. "Inside Terrorism" by Bruce Hoffman is a better all around book, and White's "Terrorism: An Introduction" is a more updated and accurate text--although more historical/regional in its approach.

Rating:
Summary: Very Informative
Review: I can't tell you enough how much I enjoyed reading this book. She was right on with her conclusions and presented her findings very well. There are few books which I consider very informative and at the same time, enjoyable. This book has both of those characteristics and I highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre Textbook
Review: I used this textbook for my POS 333, Dynamics of Terrorism class recently and found the book to be thought provoking. However, the latest edition, revised and published in 2000 still is very much out of date. The book reads as if it was written in the late 80s and never was updated except with one or two examples (some of which are wrong). There is very little discussion of the 90s, even though the first edition was published in 1997. I do believe Ms. Combs has some heaving revisiong to do on this text and should make the text more relevant to terrorism, as terrorism is relatively quick changing much like computer technology.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but sloppy with errors
Review: I'm not an expedrt in terrorism, but I do know a bit about the details of counterterrorism. It is in her chapter on counterterror that Ms. Comb's errors are most glaring. She misidentifies units, weapons, and tactics, with a series of glaring errors. Seeing as how this was a textbook of mine in a class on counterterrorism, I was rather disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but sloppy with errors
Review: I'm not an expert in terrorism, but I do know a bit about the details of counterterrorism. It is in her chapter on counterterror that Ms. Comb's errors are most glaring. She misidentifies units, weapons, and tactics, with a series of glaring errors. Seeing as how this was a textbook of mine in a class on counterterrorism, I was rather disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A textbook on Terrorism
Review: The book is a thorough review of the differnet aspects of terrorism, and as such it fits as an undergraduate textbook on the subject. Combs reviews the history of terrorism, different types of terrorism, and how people and governmnets dealt with this phenomenon during the years.
The book is written is a clear and communicative style, and each chapter ends with several issues for indepth thinking and discussion.
The relatively small size of the book, the clarity and exhaustiveness of its coverage of terrorism make it attractive to a busy student who wishes to learn about terrorism but has very little time to spend on such study. I truely think the book merits 5 point especially compared to other material written on this subject these days.