Memoirs of an Italian Terrorist

This is a riveting and chilling true-life account of the Red Brigades and one of its members. I couldn't put it down. I also recommend The Cyclops Hammer. It is also about the Red Brigades, but is fiction. However, it blends fiction with historic fact. It's a must-read for anyone interested in this group.

With all the chatter about terrorism, this little book fills a gap with its unique insight into the mind of a terrorist. Written by an unnamed young man who joins a terrorist cell in Italy, this book neither glamorizes the life of a terrorist, nor does it condemn it. For anyone who wants to try to understand what might motivate someone to become a terrorist, this book is approachable. Since the author is a European, readers might find it easier to identify with him.

This book takes on a lot of issues, some of them with sensitivty that would surprise certain readers more accustomed to looking at 'terrorists' as something other than people. And this is the books main draw. As some sort of scathing indictment of the oppression of life under capitalism, as a revolutionary call to arms for today's generation...this book fails. But not that Giorgio even tries. This is also not a detailed analysis of the 'years of lead' in Italy or any time thereafter; This is not a critique of society. No, it's somthing much more personal, something deeper. It's a look into the mind of a young man driven by moral decency to take up arms, a stirring account of one giving up everything dear to fight for what is just and right. So if you're looking for the latter rather than the former, this is your book.A must read for anyone who would blindly brush social revolutionaries off as 'misguided youngsters' or anything of that nature.