Kirjahaku

More than ever, terrorist acts command enormous attention. Concerns about terrorism have led to sweeping new restrictive government policies on such matters as immigration and airline security. In an often repeated syndrome, the one lasting legacy the departed terrorists leave behind them is a grossly exaggerated overreaction by governments to their suicidal exploits. The overreaction derails the faith in liberty and the respect for diversity that characterize an enlightened civilization.Sofia Perovskaya is a fascinating case study. She came from a privileged family with royal connections. She was not victimized by poverty, class or social stigma. She was known for being kind to the sick and devoted to her mother. We have much to learn from examining her peculiar turn of personality, one that takes over people who are generally intelligent, ascetic, creative, and motivated, and makes them killers who thirst for martyrdom.This book is part of a series of profiles of historical terrorists. The profiles demonstrate the folly of the many who continue to confuse the desperate "cause" adopted by the terrorist with the real cause of the terrorist act. Terrorism has deep roots in an irrational facet of the human psyche. Through this series we explore how, as society itself has moved toward pluralism and respect for human life, the terrorist act of self-immolation has emerged and grown in its appeal to the dark side of the psyche.

Primordial American Terrorists presents a stunning new interpretation of events leading to the end of legal slavery in the United States. It tells a gripping story, not only of terrorists who struck suddenly and savagely out of intense passion for a cause, but also, of equally passionate men and women who dedicated themselves to bringing about social justice through advocacy and other non-violent means. It is for any reader who enjoys learning about humanity through the lens of a history that is never fictionalized. Whenever a new act of terrorist violence bursts upon us, we strain to find the comfort of a logical explanation. That effort, though, is fraught with paradox. One of the most profound is the duality observed in the personality of the perpetrator. In lives apart from their defining act, terrorists frequently are lauded by friends and family as upstanding individuals, distinguished for kindness, good behavior, and charity ... It has been noticed that terrorists, in their mental makeup, tend to resemble each other. Our mission is to address the questions: How and why?

Primordial American Terrorists presents a stunning new interpretation of events leading to the end of legal slavery in the United States. It tells a gripping story, not only of terrorists who struck suddenly and savagely out of intense passion for a cause, but also, of equally passionate men and women who dedicated themselves to bringing about social justice through advocacy and other non-violent means. It is for any reader who enjoys learning about humanity through the lens of a history that is never fictionalized. Whenever a new act of terrorist violence bursts upon us, we strain to find the comfort of a logical explanation. That effort, though, is fraught with paradox. One of the most profound is the duality observed in the personality of the perpetrator. In lives apart from their defining act, terrorists frequently are lauded by friends and family as upstanding individuals, distinguished for kindness, good behavior, and charity. It has been noticed that terrorists, in their mental makeup, tend to resemble each other. Our mission is to address the questions: How and why?Primordial American Terrorists highlights the gross overreaction effect produced by terrorism. That backlash effect is a new and insightful way to understand the American Civil War. It is an insightful window into today's world, which now confronts more terrorist-induced backlash which threatens to transform long-simmering unrectified injustice into global armageddon.Primordial American Terrorists is also a personality study. It applies a magnifying glass to the characters of its protagonists. A central discovery of 20th century terrorism scholar Walter Laqueur is that terrorists, in many respects, tend to resemble each other. Primordial American Terrorists builds on that insight to develop a comparison between terrorists and other political actors who were strongly aligned with their cause. Primordial American Terrorsts portrays in intimate, well-documented detail how terrorists interacted with non-terrorists in ways that highlight the fundamental differences in their personalities.The terrorist personality this series reveals is highly distinctive. Fortunately, it is also highly uncommon. It is one which defies advance identification, because its protagonists tend to be upstanding and praiseworthy in their lives apart from the defining act. Terrorism, the author contends, should properly be classed with crimes of passion. The terrorists examined in Primordial American Terrorists believed, with their whole hearts, that in committing egregious bloodletting crimes they were acting out of the highest form of love, and that they were doing it with divine approval. The terrorists chronicled were highly intelligent people with IQs well above normal. They were profoundly ascetic and self-disciplined. The same profile the series has developed through examining historical terrorists also applies to today's terrorists. As such, it is inevitable that no amount of airport screening, either literally or figuratively speaking, will ultimately quell terrorism and prevent it from happening. This realization may save the globe from burning while we become carried away with wild overreactions that will never stamp out terrorism. In fact, they are likely to fuel the flames ever hotter, until our leadership finally comes to understand that the best answer lies not in metal detectors, but in insight into the causes of terrorism as well as the personality of its perpetrators.

Biography of the late American composer Leon Kirchner (1919-2009), exploring his work and important personal associations. In this first biography of American composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher Leon Kirchner (1919-2009), Robert Riggs paints a vivid picture of an extraordinary, multifaceted musician. Refugees from Hitler's Third Reich (Schoenberg, Bloch, and Stravinsky) dominated Kirchner's early development, and he in turn became a transformative mentor for later generations at the University of Southern California, Mills College, and Harvard University. Kirchner's performance persona is brought to life by highlighting his appearances with top orchestras and at major festivals, especially his long tenure at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he worked with Rudolf Serkin and Pablo Casals. Currentchampions of his music (Yo-Yo Ma, Leon Fleisher, and James Levine) are also key protagonists. Kirchner's entire oeuvre is discussed within the chronological narrative, and six representative works are examined in detail. Inaddition to Riggs's extensive interviews with the composer, the biography is documented with Kirchner's colorful correspondence from a roster of luminaries: Saul Bellow, Leonard Bernstein, Edward Cone, Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, Isaac Stern, Roger Sessions, and many others. Excerpts from Kirchner's own elegantly written essays and speeches complete the portrait and reveal his highly personal, romantic view of music as powerful art capable of endowing humanity with an "aesthetic sensibility and protective wisdom, without which we cannot survive." Robert Riggs is Professor of Music at the University of Mississippi.