From Marx to mosque: how Iran reshaped global extremism#IranRadicalism #IranRevolution #IranWar #JasonBurke #MiddleEast #TheConversation #TheRevolutionists

The Rise of Carlos the Jackal, the Most Feared Terrorist of the 1970s The twenty-four-year-old gripping the Beretta 9mm pistol in his gloved hand had enjoyed many names in his short life. To teasing classmates, he had been el Gordo or “the chubby one.” To…

"The twenty-four-year-old gripping the Beretta 9mm pistol in his gloved hand had enjoyed many names in his short life ...."

read the rest (of this extract from #TheRevolutionists) on the early years of Carlos the Jckal here:

lithub.com/the-rise-of-...

The Middle East Is on Fire. Who Lit the Match?

am wildly pleased by big review of #TheRevolutionists in New York Times which says "timely, engaging" and other nice things

the book is published this week in US, the final moment of a sometimes hard but generally extraordinary 10 year journey

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/b...

v pleased to report that
The Spectator
likes #TheRevolutionists too. Is "superb and monumental" apparently. which is very nice to read.
And makes good point on how few people it took to cause carnage half way round the world ...

www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-...

The Revolutionists by Jason Burke review – from hijackings to holy war A colourful study of the evolution of extremism in the tumultuous 1970s

v happy this a.m. to see👇
a comprehensive and kind review of #TheRevolutionists in the Guardian.

"combines a flair for period detail – sideburns and aviator shades, berets and Beretta pistols – with impressive digests of Arab and Iranian history".

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

A lasting peace between Israel and Palestine? We’ve heard that before – the result was more bloodshed | Jason Burke In 1982, Ronald Reagan picked up the phone to Menachem Begin to tell him to end a war. There are lessons from history and we need to learn them, says Guardian international security correspondent Jaso...

In 1982, a US president told Israel to end a war. The lessons from then are very relevant now. It's not the threat you fought that is the problem, but the one that is coming.

A quick oped based on my new book, #TheRevolutionists (out now)

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘Horny wolves, eunuchs and pirates’ among Baillie Gifford prize shortlist subjects Helen Garner and Richard Holmes among authors of nonfiction books that also encompass international terrorists and ‘ghastly literary men’

so this is nuts, and very nice. My new book #TheRevolutionists has actually made it onto the Baillie Gifford prize shortlist. It is published today too. To say I'm thrilled would be something of an understatement.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

#theatre
#theRevolutionists
Anyone seen The Revolutionists? I really enjoyed it. Clever and funny yet moving and profound. Relevant for these times.

A Caucasian woman wearing a tall, light blonde wig reminiscent of Marie Antoinette. The wig has blue flowers in it. She is wearing a black t-shirt and is posing while backstage. There is a vintage film filter over the photo.

Let me know when 1770s hair is back in style. Marie Antoinette had ships in her wigs—mine has a faux mourning dove who demands snacks and top billing.
⛵️🐦🎀
#TheRevolutionists #LaurenGunderson
#theatrekid

By far my favorite memory of 2024 was playing Marie Antoinette in Lauren Gunderson's "The Revolutionists". Easily a top 5 role in 30+ years of theatre. #theatre #history #therevolutionists