Talking terrorism: A dictionary of the loaded language of political violence

Extract

Philip Herbst, Talking terrorism: A dictionary of the loaded language of political violence. Westport, CT & London: Greenwood, 2003. Pp. xvii, 220. Hb $49.95.

Talking terrorism (TT) is not the kind of book typically reviewed in this journal. It is not explicitly about the analysis of language; rather, it is an illustration of the way language can persuade, manipulate, and corrupt. Nor is it written in the expository form expected of scholarly discourse, but instead emulates the form (if not the function) of a dictionary: an alphabetized series of entries, many followed by cross-references.