Books Received

General

Aggression and Crimes Against Peace. By Larry May. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-521-71915-5. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 356. Paper. $27.99. Of the three Nuremburg crimes, the crime of aggression is the only one not currently being prosecuted; the author argues it should be, but only when it coincides with serious human rights violations. This volume is the third of an on-going series on international law.

The Canons of Jihad: Terrorists’ Strategy for Defeating America. Edited by Jim Lacey. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59114-461-8. Map. Photographs. Index. Pp. x, 186. Paper. $18.00. In order to understand— and therefore combat—jihadists, it is necessary to read their manifestos to themselves as opposed to their propaganda intended for others; the author provides condensed translations of the key documents of the jihadist movement.

Crossbows in the Royal Netherlands Army Museum. By Jens Sensfelder. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008. ISBN 978-90-5972-174-6. Photographs. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Pp. 384. $59.00. This is the U.S. publication of the original Dutch catalogue of 2007; it is large-format and lavishly illustrated with narration in English, Dutch and German.

A History of Political Trials: From Charles I to Saddam Hussein. By John Laughland. Witney, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Peter Lang Ltd, 2008. ISBN 978-1-906165-00-0. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 315, Paper. $19.99. Recent and current prosecutions under international law of such personages as Slobodan Miloševiæ and Saddam Hussein have precedents, at least in Western Europe, far older than Nuremburg; from the Past in the Present series.

Intelligence and Human Rights in the Era of Global Terrorism. Edited by Steve Tsang. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8047-5969-4. Notes. Index. Pp. xv, 224. Paper. $24.95. The thirteen essays in this book come from a conference on Global Terrorism and Intelligence at St. Antony’s College, Oxford in 2005; the key to combatting global terrorism is not warfare, but rather persistent intelligence efforts at reaching the hearts and minds of the Islamic world; from the Stanford Security Studies series.

Makúk: a New History of Aborignal-White Relations. By John Sutton Lutz. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: UBC Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7748-1140-8. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Pp. xii, 431. Paper. $32.95. Aboriginal-white relations in Canada have always been fraught with continuous interchange (“makúk”) and misunderstanding, but modern welfare policies since World War II have made the problem worse by marginalizing the native population.

The “New” Terrorism: Myths and Reality. By Thomas R. Mockaitis. Stanford, Cal.: Stanford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8047-5970-0. Illustrations. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 158. Paper. $21.95. A study of the true, historical nature of terrorism reveals that an outright “war on terror” is not an answer; longterm policies designed to reduce risk of attack will be more effective.

A Terrorist’s Call to Global Jihad: Deciphering Abu Musab Al-Suri’s Islamic Jihad Manifesto. Edited by Jim Lacey. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59114-462-5. Map. Index. Pp. xi, 204. Paper. $19.00. The United States Joint Forces Command sponsored this condensed translation of Al-Suri’s 1,600-page Call to Global Islamic Resistence, considered to be the most important contemporary jihadist document.

The Terrorist Perspectives Project: Strategic and Operational Views of Al Qaida and Associated Movements. By Mark E. Stout, Jessica M. Huckabey, John R. Schindler, with Jim Lacey. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59114-463-2. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Notes. Index. Pp. xii, 261. Paper. $19.00. The United States Joint Forces Command also sponsored this volume from the Institute of Defense Analysis which summarizes the key doctrines of Salafi jihadism.

War in Human Civilization. By Azar Gat. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-923663-3. Photographs. Notes. Index. Pp. xvii, 822. Paper. £14.99. An extensive examination of “war” since pre-history demonstrates that the “violent option in human competition” has always been with us and is a...