Includes bibliographical references (p. [115]-144) and index.

Introduction : pondering the imponderable -- 1. Defining the indefinable : what are, and are not "terror, terrorism, and the human condition?" -- 2. Depicting the indescribable : a brief history of terrorism -- 3. Articulating the ineffable : the voices of the terrified -- 4. Surviving the unendurable : coping, and failing to cope, with terror -- Conclusion : imagining the unimaginable? : a world without (or with less ...) terror and terrorism?

"Terror, Terrorism, and the Human Condition investigates our now millennia-long attraction to, and dread of, terror and its progeny, including terrorism, or political terror, and mass murder. Charles Webel examines this most pressing political and psychological issue of our time from a cross-cultural, phenomenological, historical, and psychoanalytic perspective. Over 50 survivors of terrifying political attacks in 14 countries (including September 11th, 2001, and Spanish victims of terror) were interviewed, and their tales are a vital, and original, part of the book. The contested nature of "terrorism" is discussed in the context of the terrifying effects of terrorist attacks "from above" (state terrorism) and "from below" (sub-national acts of terrorism)."--BOOK JACKET.