The Revolutionists

One of the Best Books of the Year: The Economist, Financial Times, The Guardian

“Gripping. . . . A page-turner. . . . An engrossing chronicle of a tumultuous period.”
—The Economist

“[A] huge, roving, and painstakingly researched account of the rise of modern terrorism.”
—Financial Times

“At once global and granular. . . . A corrective to panic. . . . Burke approaches his subjects with a tone of amused detachment, sketching militants less as disciplined ideologues than as odd, restless figures drawn as much by escapade as by doctrine. . . . The period detail is vivid: aviator sunglasses, sideburns, berets, cheap pistols. . . . Burke is attentive to the misogyny and brutality that ran alongside revolutionary rhetoric. . . . He never draws an explicit line to the present, and that restraint is part of his credibility. But the implication lingers.”
—Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

“A timely, engaging chronicle of the escalating violence that plagued the Middle East from the late 1960s through the early ’80s. . . . Burke immerses readers in the era through short, telling biographical sketches. . . . Extensively researched.”
—Neil MacFarquhar, The New York Times Book Review

“Magisterial . . . Burke submerges his readers in the inky, internecine swamps of extremism. His staggering command of detail draws complex, contoured characters who inspire neither admiration nor outright condemnation . . . . An engaging, intelligible guide through a dense geopolitical period.”
—Barney Horner, New Statesman (UK)

“A deeply researched account of the origins of modern terrorism. Burke turns to archives, secret documents, and interviews to bring to life the wave of extremism that gripped the world in the 1970s and laid the groundwork for what followed.”
—Foreign Policy, “Most Anticipated Books of 2026″

“Jason Burke’s meticulously researched book is peopled by an array of colorful characters, from terrorists to idealists and double agents. . . . Riveting.”
—Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News (UK)

“An excellent, deeply researched, fascinating chronicle of lethal Middle Eastern conspirators and absurd Western killers that is as irresistible and unputdownable as it is astonishing and relevant.”
—Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Times (UK), “Book of the Week”

“Riveting . . . [The Revolutionists] is an absorbing history of terrorism in Europe and the Middle East . . . . A deeply researched, ambitious, and elegantly written book.”
—The Observer (UK)

“The Revolutionists is an incisive account of the rise of modern terrorism following the founding of the State of Israel. It manages to be both scholarly and engaging. A wonderful book for any reader interested in the Middle East and the curse of terror that has haunted the region—and the world—for too many years.”
—Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower

“For this moment of political wildness and ideological extremism, Jason Burke, a distinguished foreign correspondent, has written a chillingly cautionary global history of political terrorism in the late Cold War. Deeply researched and engagingly written, this is a vivid, engrossing, and disturbing study of violent transnational attacks against innocent civilians in the name of leftist revolution, Palestinian nationalism, and Islamist radicalism.”
—Gary J. Bass, author of Judgment at Tokyo

“A captivating account of the origins of modern international terrorism with fascinating insights into the terrorists and their opponents. A must read to understand the contemporary Middle East and more.”
—Bruce Riedel, author of Beirut 1958

“This is Jason Burke’s magnum opus, a hugely ambitious book that greatly benefits from his three decades of reporting on revolutionary violence. Burke seems to have read everything that is relevant about terrorism in multiple languages and talked to anybody who mattered on all sides of the conflicts he writes about. The book is propulsively written and is not only an account of the rise of leftist and Islamist terrorism in the 1960s and the decades that followed, but also a wonderfully evocative history of an era that reverberates today.”
—Peter Bergen, author of The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden

“Burke masterfully connects the dots, capturing the precise moment the world shifted—subtly, profoundly and in ways we are only beginning to grasp. His book doesn’t just illuminate the past, it brings clarity to the present.”
—Peter R. Neumann, author of The New World Disorder

“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] sweeping account . . . . Burke offers sober but humanizing profiles of these revolutionaries and their victims . . . . Readers will find this a stunning and in-depth look at a tumultuous sea change in the global political order.”
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Intelligent and enlightening . . . . Burke’s expansive history of leftist and Islamist political violence in Europe and the Middle East from the late 1960s to the early 1980s combines journalistic rigor with spy novel–esque skullduggery . . . . An authoritative epic about era-defining extremism.”
—Kirkus