Richard English brings thirty years of professional expertise studying terrorism to the task of answering one of the most complex - and controversial - questions of our time: does terrorism work?Focussing principally on four of the most significant terrorist organizations of the last fifty years (al-Qaida, the Provisional IRA, Hamas, and ETA), and using a wealth of interview material with former terrorists as well as those involved in counter-terrorism, he argues that we need a far more honest understanding of the degree to which terrorism actually works, as well as a more nuanced insight into the precise ways in which it does so. Only then can we truly and effectively grapple with what has become one of the most challenging and eye-catching issues of our time.

Author Biography

Richard English is Professor of Politics at Queen's University Belfast, where he is also Distinguished Professorial Fellow in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. His books have won numerous awards, and include Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, Irish Freedom: The History of Nationalism in Ireland, Terrorism: How to Respond, and Modern War: A Very Short Introduction. He is a frequent media commentator on terrorism and political violence, and on Irish politics and history, including work for the BBC, CNN, ITN, SKY NEWS, NPR, RTE, the Irish Times, Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek, Guardian, and Financial Times. He is a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS), an Honorary Fellow of Keble College Oxford, and an Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews.