Terrorism on American Soil Pricecise History of Plots and Perpetrators from the Famous to the Forgotten

The terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 led most American citizens to feel that we are no longer safe and secure in our communities. However, terrorism is not a new phenomenon in the United States. This book chronicles 37 such assaults on American soil from the end of the Civil War to the present day. Not only are the most infamous attacks discussed; events that are obscure and relatively unknown-but fascinating nonetheless-are detailed as well. These accounts illustrate important lessons about the changing nature of terrorism; methods for coping with the threat; and the psychological, political, and legal principles that help us understand the issues involved. Not a technical or scholarly treatise, "Terrorism on American Soil" deals with this provocative subject in a highly readable style, using a narrative case-study format that has been successful in the popular true crime genre. The author provides details of the perpetrators, their motives, and the social and political context in which each event took place, and offers a new perspective on some of the attacks.

Joseph McCann teaches a course on the psychological and legal aspects of terrorism at the State University of New York at Binghamton.