The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s

<p><b>** SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2025 **</b><br />** A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN <i>THE TIMES,</i> <i>GUARDIAN</i>, <i>FINANCIAL TIMES, </i><i>ECONOMIST, PROSPECT </i>AND <i>BBC HISTORY</i>**<br /><br />A thrilling and unprecedented account of the radicalism and political extremism that gripped the 1970s - a seismic decade that transformed the modern world.<br /><br /><b>'A fabulously gripping read'</b> DOMINIC SANDBROOK, <i>The Times </i>Books of the Year<br /><br /><b>'Brilliant ... An astonishing window not just into the origins of modern terrorism but also into our own age' </b>RORY STEWART<br /><br /><b>'Extraordinary ... told with cool authority and a novelist's eye for detail'</b> RORY CARROLL, author of <i>Killing Thatcher</i><br /><br />In the 1970s, a network of extremists terrorised the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the glamorous Leila Khaled, hard-drinking Carlos the Jackal, and radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. United by their hatred of Israel, capitalism and 'Western imperialism', they unleashed a series of audacious attacks that brought governments to their knees and glued the world to their tv screens.<br /><br />Drawing on decades of research, recently declassified government files, secret documents, and first-hand interviews with hijackers, spies, witnesses and victims, Jason Burke takes us inside these often-deadly operations. Through the perpetrators' eyes - and of the unrelenting agents who hunted them down - he uncovers a dark, complex world of loyalty, betrayal and commitment to change at any cost.<br /><br />Pitching us into these tumultuous times,<i> The</i> <i>Revolutionists </i>reveals how a campaign led by secular leftist revolutionaries gave way to a far more lethal movement of conservative religious fanaticism that would dominate the decades to come. It is impossible to understand the world today without reading this book.<br /><br /><b>'A book that historians will be profiting from for many decades to come'</b> TOM HOLLAND<br /><br /><b>'As compelling as the best of spy thrillers'</b> FERGAL KEANE, BBC Correspondent and author of <i>The Madness</i><br /><br /><b>'Riveting' </b>LINDSEY HILSUM, International Editor, Channel 4 News</p>

Hardback | 768 pages | Published October 2025