Título: The Lessons of Terror
Autor: Caleb Carr
Sinopse: In The Lessons of Terror, novelist and military historian Caleb Carr examines terrorism throughout history and the roots of our present crisis and reaches a provocative set of conclusions: the practice of targeting enemy civilians is as old as warfare itself; it has always failed as a military and political tactic; and despite the dramatic increases in its scope and range of weapons, it will continue to fail in the future. International terrorismthe victimization of unarmed civilians in an attempt to affect their support for the government that leads themis a phrase with which Americans have become all too familiar recently. Yet while at first glance terrorism seems a relatively modern phenomenon, Carr illustrates that it has been a constant of military history. In ancient times, warring armies raped and slaughtered civilians and gratuitously destroyed property, homes, and cities; in the Middle Ages, evangelical Muslims and Christian crusaders spread their faiths by the sword; and in the early modern era, such celebrated kings as Louis XIV revealed a taste for victimizing noncombatants for political purposes. It was during the Civil War that Americans themselves first engaged in total war, the most egregious of the many euphemisms for the tactics of terror. Under the leadership of such generals as Stonewall Jackson, the forces of the South tried to systematize this horrifying practice; but it fell to a Union general, William Tecumseh Sherman, to achieve that dubious goal. Carr recounts Shermans declaration of war on every man, woman, and child in the Southa policy that he himself knew was badly flawed, had nothing to do with his military successes (indeed, it hampered them), and brought long-term unrest to the American South by giving birth to the Ku Klux Klan. Carrs exploration of terror reveals its consistently self-defeating nature. Far from prompting submission, Carr argues, terrorism stiffens enemy resolve: for this reason above all, terrorism has never achievednor will it ever achievelong-term success, however physically destructive and psychologically debilitating it may become. With commanding authority and the storytellers gift for which he is renowned, Caleb Carr provides a critical historical context for understanding terrorist acts today, arguing that terrorism will be eradicated only when it is perceived as a tactic that brings nothing save defeat to its agents.
Contexto da obra
Quando a classificação é mais ampla, o contexto do livro costuma depender ainda mais de autoria, tema e edição. “The Lessons of Terror”, de Caleb Carr, publicado pela editora Random House, em 2002 e com 157 páginas, integra a categoria Livros Variados. Por isso, autoria, edição e tema acabam tendo ainda mais peso na forma de apresentar o livro.
Editora: Random House
Páginas: 157
Ano: 2002
Edição:
Linguagem: English
ISBN: 1588362051
ISBN13: 9781588362056
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Random House apresentam uma variedade de narrativas que transitam entre o realismo histórico, o suspense contemporâneo e a ficção especulativa. A experiência de leitura costuma envolver personagens complexos em ambientes que vão desde pequenas vilas inglesas até cidades modernas e mundos imaginários, com conflitos que exploram tanto dramas pessoais quanto questões sociais amplas. O catálogo sugere obras que equilibram enredos mais narrativos e envolventes com textos que dialogam com temas atuais, como justiça social e memórias históricas, sempre com um ritmo que pode variar do introspectivo ao tenso. A linguagem, em geral, é acessível, mas não simplificada, convidando leitores que apreciam tanto o desenvolvimento psicológico quanto a construção cuidadosa do cenário.
