Tag Archives: antonia fraser

A lesson from history in tackling terrorism

Antonia Fraser’s lively and authoritative history The Gunpowder Plot: Terror & Faith in 1605 not only provides an entertaining account of the events that have turned November 5th into an annual fireworks celebration but also throws a light on how to tackle terrorism. For the early seventeenth century world which spawned Guy Fawkes, Robert Catesby and an attempt to blow up Parliament was one in which there were widespread fears of plots and violence, motivated by differing religious views that led some (but not all) to see the future as inevitably bringing a violent confrontation for religious supremacy. Fears of terrorist conspiracy by an extremist minority in a religion that nominally owned obedience to an overseas religious figure all sounds rather contemporary.

Posted in Books and News | 6 Comments
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  • Jana
    @Simon McGrath “ Ironic that the first comment is anti semitic conspiracy theory.” I don’t understand this statement. There is no disagreement that th...
  • Andy Daer
    Alex reminds us of the historical reasons why British prime ministers need to take responsibility for the awful consequences of our failures during the Mandate ...
  • Margot Wilson
    So refreshing to see that history recognised. 'Absent from the wider public consciousness' is certainly the case....
  • Alex Macfie
    I don't understand why Ed decided to jump on the banknote bandwagon, when the overlap between the people who are bothered about that sort of thing and those who...
  • Dennis Delice
    I love this parallel you've made; I couldn't help but think the same. Rather than responding to shots being taken in a defensive mentality, we are are strugglin...