In the 1970s, a network of radical extremists terrorised the West with intricately planned plane hijackings and hostage-takings. Among them was the young Leila Khaled with her jewellery made from grenade rings, the hard-drinking Carlos the Jackal in shades and designer suits, and the 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 televisions in morbid fascination.

Drawing on decades of research, recently declassified government files, secret documents, and original interviews with hijackers, spies, witnesses and victims, I speak with Jason Burke, the author of “The Revolutionists - The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s” takes us into the lives and minds of the perpetrators of these often-deadly operations.

Buy the book here https://uk.bookshop.org/a/1549/9781847926067

Related episodes:

Watching the Jackals: Prague’s Covert Liaisons with Cold War Terrorists and Revolutionaries https://coldwarconversations.com/episode382/
Terrorism in the Cold War https://coldwarconversations.com/episode205/

Episode extras ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://coldwarconversations.com/episode437⁠

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When Terrorism Went Global: Plane Hijackings and Violence in the 1970s (437)