The Revolutionists

The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s

By: Jason Burke

Narrated by: Kristin Atherton

Brought to you by Penguin.

** SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE 2025 **

A thrilling and unprecedented account of the radicalism and political extremism that gripped the 1970s – a seismic decade that transformed the modern world.

In the 1970s, a network of extremists terrorised the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them were the glamorous Leila Khaled, hard-drinking Carlos the Jackal, and radical leftists of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. United by their hatred of Israel, capitalism and ‘Western imperialism’, they unleashed a series of audacious attacks that brought governments to their knees and glued the world to their tv screens.

Drawing on decades of research, recently declassified government files, secret documents, and first-hand interviews with hijackers, spies, witnesses and victims, Jason Burke takes us inside these often-deadly operations. Through the perpetrators’ eyes – and of the unrelenting agents who hunted them down – he uncovers a dark, complex world of loyalty, betrayal and commitment to change at any cost.

Pitching us into these tumultuous times, The Revolutionists reveals how a campaign led by secular leftist revolutionaries gave way to a far more lethal movement of conservative religious fanaticism that would dominate the decades to come. It is impossible to understand the world today without reading this book.

'Brilliant ... An astonishing window not just into the origins of modern terrorism but also into our own age' RORY STEWART

‘Extraordinary … told with cool authority and a novelist's eye for detail' RORY CARROLL, author of Killing Thatcher

'Riveting' LINDSEY HILSUM, International Editor, Channel 4 News

'A book that historians will be profiting from for many decades to come' TOM HOLLAND

‘As compelling as the best of spy thrillers’ FERGAL KEANE, BBC Correspondent and author of The Madness

© Jason Burke 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critic reviews

Brilliant, beautifully researched, observed and written. An astonishing window not just into the origins of modern terrorism but also into our own age (Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge)

A kaleidoscopic sweep through an extraordinary era told with cool authority and a novelist's eye for detail. Burke is a master in the field (Rory Carroll, author of Killing Thatcher)

If journalism is the first draft of history, then this is its second draft. A book that historians will be consulting and profiting from for many decades to come (Tom Holland, author of Rubicon and host of The Rest Is History)

A dazzling exploration of the radical politics of the 1970s… a fabulously gripping read

Superb and monumental

Riveting … [The Revolutionists] is an absorbing history of terrorism in Europe and the Middle East … A deeply researched, ambitious and elegantly written book

[A] huge, roving and painstakingly researched account of the rise of modern terrorism

As irresistible and unputdownable as it is astonishing and relevant (Simon Sebag Montefiore)

Magisterial … The Revolutionists [is] such an engaging, intelligible guide through a dense geopolitical period

A detailed and sweeping account of the origins of modern international terrorism