Martyrs

enlightening and well-documented analysis of acts of vengeance in the recent Middle East. Her reporting is balanced, candid and true to the facts. An important text in helping the layperson understand the ramifications of U.S. foreign policy decisions in the Middle East over the last several decades.' - Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Georgetown University, USA 'Do suicide bombers perceive themselves as making a choice? That is the central question in this horrible phenomenon. With attention to detail from victims like young Mohammed al-Dirra to the 'choice' by young women like Loula Abboud, Davis chronicles the trajectory from history to despair to hope, and in each case, asks why this happened. and how to get out.' - Jacki Lyden, host and correspondent, All Things Considered, NPR News '...timely, informative and well-written book...a 'must read' book for those seeking to understand.' - L. O. Imade, Choice 'Davis' most significant achievement is to establish something of the rationality of martyrdom, when the struggle for existence and identity is so real and present. Interviews repeatedly demonstrate how such rationality appropriates a moral narrative of justice, oppression and liberation...The book's analysis is strongest when, following her journalistic interests, Davis presents the lives of households touched by acts of martyrdom.' - The Times Higher Education Supplement 'The men and women who commit suicide bombings, though, are harder to understand than the conflict that motivates them. Go to Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance and Despair in the Middle East (Palgrave Macmillan), by Joyce Davis, for an attempt to get inside the mind of suicide bombers via interviews with their teachers, their families and future recruits. Don't be put off by the title, because Davis aims to 'understand but not accept' the crimes about which she writes.' - The Times 'Go to Martyrs by Joyce Davis for an attempt to get inside the mind of suicide bombers via interviews with their teachers, their families and future recruits'. - David Mattin, The Times 'Martyrs is must reading for all seeking to understand the causes of the anti-Americanism, violence and terror that has engulfed the Middle East.' - John L. Esposito, Georgetown University