The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s (SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2025) - Softcover

Burke, Jason

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184792607X ISBN 13: 9781847926074

Publisher: Bodley Head, 2025

Synopsis

** SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2025 **
** A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, ECONOMIST, PROSPECT AND BBC HISTORY**

A thrilling and unprecedented account of the radicalism and political extremism that gripped the 1970s – a seismic decade that transformed the modern world.

'A fabulously gripping read' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, The Times Books of the Year

'Brilliant ... An astonishing window not just into the origins of modern terrorism but also into our own age' RORY STEWART

‘Extraordinary … told with cool authority and a novelist's eye for detail' RORY CARROLL, author of Killing Thatcher

In the 1970s, a network of extremists terrorised the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the glamorous Leila Khaled, hard-drinking Carlos the Jackal, and radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. United by their hatred of Israel, capitalism and ‘Western imperialism’, they unleashed a series of audacious attacks that brought governments to their knees and glued the world to their tv screens.

Drawing on decades of research, recently declassified government files, secret documents, and first-hand interviews with hijackers, spies, witnesses and victims, Jason Burke takes us inside these often-deadly operations. Through the perpetrators’ eyes – and of the unrelenting agents who hunted them down – he uncovers a dark, complex world of loyalty, betrayal and commitment to change at any cost.

Pitching us into these tumultuous times, The Revolutionists reveals how a campaign led by secular leftist revolutionaries gave way to a far more lethal movement of conservative religious fanaticism that would dominate the decades to come. It is impossible to understand the world today without reading this book.

'A book that historians will be profiting from for many decades to come' TOM HOLLAND

‘As compelling as the best of spy thrillers’ FERGAL KEANE, BBC Correspondent and author of The Madness

'Riveting' LINDSEY HILSUM, International Editor, Channel 4 News

About this title

About the Author

Jason Burke is a globally recognised expert on terrorism and has reported for two decades on this and related conflicts around the world for the Guardian. He is the best-selling, prize-winning author of four critically acclaimed books, including The New Threat from Islamic Militancy, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize; ; The 9/11 Wars, ‘the best overview of the 9/11 decade in print’ (Economist) and the ground-breaking Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam. He has made numerous appearances on television and radio and contributes to periodicals such as Foreign Policy, Prospect and the New Statesman.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bodley Head
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184792607X
• ISBN 13: 9781847926074
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 768