Awards

• Long-listed for Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2025 (UK)

Overview

Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize, with an extraordinary cast and globe-spanning action, this is the gripping, era-defining origin story for today's conflicts Immersive, globe-spanning and full of detail and drama, The Revolutionists is an unprecedented account of a seismic decade that transformed the modern world. In the 1970s, a network of radical extremists terrorised the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the glamorous young Leila Khaled with her jewellery made from grenade rings, the hard-drinking Carlos the Jackal in shades and designer suits, and the 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 televisions in morbid fascination. Drawing on decades of research, recently declassified government files, secret documents, and original interviews with hijackers, spies, witnesses and victims, Jason Burke takes us into the lives and minds of the perpetrators of these often-deadly operations. Through their eyes - and the eyes of the unrelenting agents who hunted them down - he uncovers a dark, complex world of loyalty, betrayal and commitment to radical change at any cost. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War and packed with revelations about iconic events such as the deadly attack on the Munich Olympic, Israel's raid on Entebbe, the Iranian revolution and the rise of Islamic extremism, this is a sweeping, scrupulously reported historical narrative with the pace and suspense of a thriller. The Revolutionists pitches the reader into these tumultuous times. Ultimately, it shows 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 history.

Full Product Details

9781529934540

Table of Contents

Reviews

Brilliant, beautifully researched, observed and written. An astonishing window not just into the origins of modern terrorism but also into our own age -- Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge A kaleidoscopic sweep through an extraordinary era told with cool authority and a novelist's eye for detail. Burke is a master in the field -- Rory Carroll, author of Killing Thatcher If journalism is the first draft of history, then this is its second draft. A book that historians will be consulting and profiting from for many decades to come -- Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and host of The Rest Is History A dazzling exploration of the radical politics of the 1970s… a fabulously gripping read * The Times, *Books of the Year* * Superb and monumental * Spectator * Riveting … [The Revolutionists] is an absorbing history of terrorism in Europe and the Middle East … A deeply researched, ambitious and elegantly written book * Observer * [A] huge, roving and painstakingly researched account of the rise of modern terrorism * Financial Times * As irresistible and unputdownable as it is astonishing and relevant -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * The Times, *Book of the Week* * Magisterial … The Revolutionists [is] such an engaging, intelligible guide through a dense geopolitical period * New Statesman * A detailed and sweeping account of the origins of modern international terrorism * Financial Times Best Books of 2025 *

Author Information

JASON BURKE, the International Security correspondent for the Guardian, has been a foreign correspondent for almost 30 years, reporting from the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and Africa. He is one of the foremost writers on terrorism and the author of four critically acclaimed books- 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' (The Economist); the ground-breaking Al-Qaeda- The True Story of Radical Islam and On the Road to Kandahar- Travels through Conflict in the Islamic World. He lives near London.

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