ABSTRACT
As recently as 1975 there was virtually no literature about terrorism except for some very readable thrillers on the pattern of Day of the Jackal. But during the last decade, it has grown exponentially (Amazon lists more than 5.500 books about the subject), and if one adds the literature on Iraq, Islamism and related topics, there is standing room only and not much of that either. This is true in particular with regard to the United States, and in some respects this enormous growth is to be welcomed for it shows intellectual curiosity. Many who even a year ago did not know the difference between zakat and jihad now write with confidence about some finer points in the theology of Ibn Taimiyya and the Koran exegesis of Sayyid Qutb.
