by Stefan Oust. The quintessential radical leftist terrorist group, founded in 1970 and eventually known as the Red Army Faction, Baader-Meinhof was responsible for 34 deaths in Germany over a 30-year period. Aust (former editor in chief, Der Spiegel) first published a book on this group in 1985, with an updated version appearing in 1997. This revised and expanded edition is the first to appear here in English translation. Exhaustively detailing the group's exploits from 1970 until the prison suicides of the leaders in 1977, Aust offers fascinating insights into both the spectacular and the mundane aspects of life in a terrorist cadre. He also offers includes new information obtained from Stasi files released after Germany's reunification. VERDICT The narrative stresses Baader-Meinhof's actions rather than analysis of its ideology, which can only be gleaned from quotes by members interspersed throughout and from Aust's commentary about the political climate in Germany at the time. Still, this fast-paced account allows readers to peer into the minds of actors engaged in committing horrific acts of violence with the goal of advancing a political agenda—a timely subject in the age of global terrorism.—Library Journal (Check Catalog)
Monday, June 15, 2009
Baader-Meinhof : the inside story of the R.A.F.
by Stefan Oust. The quintessential radical leftist terrorist group, founded in 1970 and eventually known as the Red Army Faction, Baader-Meinhof was responsible for 34 deaths in Germany over a 30-year period. Aust (former editor in chief, Der Spiegel) first published a book on this group in 1985, with an updated version appearing in 1997. This revised and expanded edition is the first to appear here in English translation. Exhaustively detailing the group's exploits from 1970 until the prison suicides of the leaders in 1977, Aust offers fascinating insights into both the spectacular and the mundane aspects of life in a terrorist cadre. He also offers includes new information obtained from Stasi files released after Germany's reunification. VERDICT The narrative stresses Baader-Meinhof's actions rather than analysis of its ideology, which can only be gleaned from quotes by members interspersed throughout and from Aust's commentary about the political climate in Germany at the time. Still, this fast-paced account allows readers to peer into the minds of actors engaged in committing horrific acts of violence with the goal of advancing a political agenda—a timely subject in the age of global terrorism.—Library Journal (Check Catalog)
