Dr. Martin Miller reading from "Foundations of Modern Terrorism: State, Society and the Dynamics of Political Violence" (2013)

Duke history professor Martin Miller traces modern terrorism to the French Revolution or thereabouts, and specifically to the formation of the idea that "citizens" have a right (and indeed duty) to rebel against their wayward governments "by any means necessary." Take that notion and another, that there are several different "legitimate" ways to organize governments, and you have modern terrorism: campaigns designed to change or overthrow governments that are deemed by political radicals to be acting illegitimately."Miller has written a splendid scene-shifting narrative of dilemmas of power, with cameos of individual terrorists, theoreticians of terror, architects of state terror, and scenes of terror across the globe. His study offers deep understanding of the basic and enduring reasons for both Red and White Terror." -Philip Pomper, Wesleyan University. Books will be available for purchase.