 |
Terror at Besian: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America’s Shools
By John Giduck; published by he Archangell Group, Tel: 303/215-0779,
www.terroratbesian.com; 431 pages; $25.
In September 2004, Chechen terrorists attached a school and took about 1300 children and adults hostage. Two days later, shooting broke out between the terrorists and Russian security forces in which 330 civilians were dead. Author John Giduck presents an excellent review and analysis of the attack by providing diagrams of the school building and difficulties faced by Russian forces. The author’s lively writing style will keep readers going even during the historical sections. Giduck derives lessons learned that can be applied in the United States or elsewhere. He considers the likelihood of a similar threat to US schools. He adds Islamist threat to Russian schools is much greater than it is to US schools. Russia faces an internal terrorist threat from Chechens while the United States faces no similar circumstance. Reviewer: Lloyd F. Reese, CPP, CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), has worked for the US government, a fortune 50 company, and a consulting business. He was a member of the Terrorist Activities Subcommittee of the ASIS National Capital Chapter for 13 years, and he remains a member of ASIS International.
Security Management – March 2006.
Go Top
Voices of Terror: Manifestos, Writings and Manuals of al Qaeda, Hamas, and Other Terrorists from Around the World and Throughout the Ages.
Edited by Walter Laqueur; published by Sourcebooks, Inc., Tel: 800/432-7444
Brilliantly presented and meticulously documented, this book is probably the single best volume on terrorist writings. In terrorists’ own words, Voices of terror allows a peak into the emotions, principles, and rhetoric that often accompany tyranny, revolution, guerilla warfare, and terrorism. By including such a broad and far-reaching cross-sections of viewpoints, Laqueur has endowed the book with a big-picture perspective. That sets this work apart from other collections of manifestos, where the focus tends to be narrow. Statesman Benjamin Disraeli once cautioned against reading history, which he characterized as “nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” Readers of this collection of writings, however, can have their history and their theory too. The lessons imparted strongly resonate today. Reviewer: Mark H. Beaudry, CPP, is senior security professional with IBM-SWG, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a member of ASIS international.
Security Management – April 2006.
Go Top
|
|
