Book excerpt: The aim of this book is to provide readers with the tools to understand the historical evolution of terrorism and counterterrorism over the past 150 years. In order to appreciate the contemporary challenges posed by terrorism it is necessary to look at its evolution, at the different phases it has gone through, and the transformations it has experienced. The same applies to the solutions that states have come up with to combat terrorism: the nature of terrorism changes but still it is possible to learn from past experiences even though they are not directly applicable to the present. This book provides a fresh look at the history of terrorism by providing in-depth analysis of several important terrorist crises and the reactions to them in the West and beyond. The general framework is laid out in four parts: terrorism prior to the Cold War, the Western experience with terrorism, non-Western experiences with terrorism, and contemporary terrorism and anti-terrorism. The issues covered offer a broad range of historical and current themes, many of which have been neglected in existing scholarship; it also features a chapter on the waves phenomenon of terrorism against its international background. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism studies, political violence, international history, security studies and IR.