A DIVERSE GROUP OF AUTHORS--ARISTOTLE, CICERO, PLUTARCH, THOMAS AQUINAS, MIKHAIL BAKUNIN, MENAHEM BEGIN, CHALMERS JOHNSON, AND ANONYMOUS PAMPHLETEERS FOR SUCH GROUPS AS THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY, THE RED ARMY FACTION, AND THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND--TRACE POLITICAL TERRORISM THROUGH THE AGES, FROM EARLY GREEK AND ROMAN TYRANNICIDES AND THE BIRTH OF MODERN TERRORISM IN CZARIST RUSSIA TO CONTEMPORARY TERRORISM AS PRACTICED BY EUROPE'S BAADER-MEINHOF GANG. IN PARTICULAR, ATTENTION IS DEVOTED TO THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE: TERRORISM DIRECTED AGAINST DICTATORSHIPS AS WELL AS DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES, AND THAT PRACTICED BY THE EXTREME LEFT, THE EXTREME RIGHT, AND FREQUENTLY BY NATIONALIST-RELIGIOUS SEPARATIST MOVEMENTS. (KBL)