BEGINNING WITH A DISCUSSION OF COMMON MYTHS ABOUT TERRORISM AND GENERAL PURPOSES AND PROCESSES OF TERRORISM, THE TEXT IS DIVIDED INTO TWO SECTIONS, THE FIRST EXPLORING TERRORISM ACROSS TIME AND SPACE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY BUILDING AND THE SECOND FOCUSING ON TERRORISM IN VARIOUS GEOPOLITICAL REGIONS. THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TERRORIST ACTIVITIES BY NONGOVERNMENTAL GROUPS IN THE 1960'S ARE POINTED OUT USING A CROSS-NATIONAL SET OF DATA TO IDENTIFY TERRORISTS AND THEIR MOTIVES, THEIR NUMBERS AND ORGANIZATION, THEIR TARGETS, AND THE DURATION AND EFFECT OF THEIR ACTIONS. THE UTILITY OF VARIOUS TERRORIST STRATEGIES IS EXAMINED IN RELATION TO BOTH URBAN AND NONURBAN SETTINGS, AND CASE STUDIES OF URBAN RIOTS IN THE U.S., BOMBINGS IN ENGLAND, AND THE CIVIL WARS IN LEBANON AND CYPRUS ARE PRESENTED, AS WELL AS A LONGER ANALYSIS OF REGIME TERRORISM IN ALGERIA. THE IMPACT OF THE SOCIOSTRUCTURAL CONTEXT ON REVOLUTIONARY POLITICAL TERRORISM IS CONSIDERED BY RELATING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PREINDUSTRIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES TO TERRORISM. THE SECOND PART OF THE TEXT COMMENCES WITH AN ANALYSIS OF THE TACTICS, TARGETS, IDENTITY, AND MOTIVATION OF TRANSITIONAL TERRORISTS AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSES IN THE PERIOD 1968-1975 AND A STUDY OF THE CHARACTER OF WESTERN EUROPEAN TERRORISM WHICH FOCUSES ON THE PHENOMENA OF ETHNIC AND STUDENT-IDEOLOGICAL TERRORISM. AN INDEPTH ANALYSIS OF TERRORIST ACTIVITY IN NORTHERN IRELAND IS INCLUDED. THE USE OF TERRORISM IN AFRICA IN SEVERAL CONTEXTS--COLONIALISM, INDEPENDENT BLACK REGIMES, AND THE WHITE MINORITY REGIME--IS DISCUSSED AS WELL AS TERRORISM BY GOVERNMENTS AND INSURGENTS IN LATIN AMERICA. THE FINAL CHAPTERS DESCRIBE THE USE OF TERROR AS A POLITICAL TACTIC BY THE PALESTINIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST (1967-1973), THE ROLE OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM IN THE POLITICS OF BENGAL, WITH REFERENCE TO THREE HISTORICAL PERIODS, AND THE NORMATIVE AND EMPIRICAL CONSEQUENCES OF TERROR IN THE U.S. REFERENCES AND AN INDEX ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)