Overview

"More than ever, terrorist acts command enormous attention. Concerns about terrorism have led to sweeping new restrictive government policies on such matters as immigration and airline security. In an often repeated syndrome, the one lasting legacy the departed terrorists leave behind them is a grossly exaggerated overreaction by governments to their suicidal exploits. The overreaction derails the faith in liberty and the respect for diversity that characterize an enlightened civilization. Sofia Perovskaya is a fascinating case study. She came from a privileged family with royal connections. She was not victimized by poverty, class or social stigma. She was known for being kind to the sick and devoted to her mother. We have much to learn from examining her peculiar turn of personality, one that takes over people who are generally intelligent, ascetic, creative, and motivated, and makes them killers who thirst for martyrdom. This book is part of a series of profiles of historical terrorists. The profiles demonstrate the folly of the many who continue to confuse the desperate ""cause"" adopted by the terrorist with the real cause of the terrorist act. Terrorism has deep roots in an irrational facet of the human psyche. Through this series we explore how, as society itself has moved toward pluralism and respect for human life, the terrorist act of self-immolation has emerged and grown in its appeal to the dark side of the psyche."

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9780999155912

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Reviews

"""Very readable and in general accurate."" -- Walter G. Moss, Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University and author of Russia in the Age of Alexander II, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, and A History of Russia ""Debut author Riggs meticulously tracks Perovskaya's radicalization, including her intellectual influences, such as Nikolai Chernyshevsky's 1863 novel What Is to Be Done? He also examines the lives of other historically important radicals, including the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin. Finally, he explores the basic characteristics common to all terrorists, effectively furnishing a synoptic profile. Overall, his study is remarkably well-researched, examining the many ways in which the Russian radicals of the period were the first modern terrorists and how they supplied a template for others. Furthermore, he perceptively tracks how revolutionary resistance counterintuitively pushed the Russian government toward conservative retreat, transforming a reformist czar into a guarded dictator. -- Kirkus Indy reviews Sofia Perovskaya may be an obscure historical figure for most people, but she is an important part of early Russian history and has an important historical value for researchers. This book by Robert Riggs opens up an interesting chapter and personality for those interested in terrorism, its causes, and those that do it. There are psychological aspects to terrorists that many have in common, and knowing more about who they are, where they come from and how they act can help in counteracting new terrorists from forming. Sofia Perovskaya was a Russian aristocrat, related to Elizabeth of Russia (Empress from 1741-1762) via marriage. Literate, well-read and educated, she became part of the burgeoning anarchist movement during the same period as the American Civil War. She was active in many conspiracies against the Russian Emperor Alexander II and his government, being arrested several times and eventually sentenced to prison, from which she escaped. After multiple attempts on Alexander II's life, Sofia and her group were eventually successful, assassinating him in Saint Petersburg on March 1, 1881. Sofia was eventually captured and sentenced to death for her part in the assassination and was the first woman in Russia sentenced to death for terrorism. Robert Riggs is writing a series of books on terrorists and terrorism, looking for linking characteristics and his beginning with Sofia Perovskaya is an interesting one. She isn't a well-known or even a ""key"" figure in world history, but she serves as a good template for both the evolution of modern terrorism and the personality and personal traits Riggs has found in other terrorists. -- Seattle Book Review"

Very readable and in general accurate. -- Walter G. Moss, Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University and author of Russia in the Age of Alexander II, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, and A History of Russia

Author Information

Robert Riggs, author of Sofia Perovskaya, Terrorist Princess, attended Johns Hopkins University, where he was editor in chief of the Johns Hopkins News-Letter and studied with notable historians Robert Forster and Orest Ranum. He also received a J.D. degree from Stanford Law School. Mr. Riggs has worked in the federal court system as a law clerk to two federal judges, and as a monitor reporting on conditions at California's San Quentin and Folsom State Prisons.

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