Jason Burke
@jasonburke2.bsky.social
Author of The Revolutionists: the story of the extremists who hijacked the 1970s, Baillie Gifford shortlist, lots of nice reviews, out now https://shorturl.at/aLfVb. Apparently "veteran" foreign correspondent etc too. Oh, and a dad.
very very long, careful and clever review of The Revolutionists in the New Yorker .. which is pretty amazing
"A new history charts how Palestinian militants of the nineteen-seventies made common cause with West Germany’s radical left."
t.co/mk6on0oGOz
"A new history charts how Palestinian militants of the nineteen-seventies made common cause with West Germany’s radical left."
t.co/mk6on0oGOz
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/09/the-revolutionists-jason-burke-book-review
t.co
February 3, 2026 at 5:24 PM
very very long, careful and clever review of The Revolutionists in the New Yorker .. which is pretty amazing
"A new history charts how Palestinian militants of the nineteen-seventies made common cause with West Germany’s radical left."
t.co/mk6on0oGOz
"A new history charts how Palestinian militants of the nineteen-seventies made common cause with West Germany’s radical left."
t.co/mk6on0oGOz
Reposted by Jason Burke
Finally got round to starting my birthday present, @jasonburke2.bsky.social ‘s Revolutionists. 100 pages in in two days and it’s excellent.
January 29, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Finally got round to starting my birthday present, @jasonburke2.bsky.social ‘s Revolutionists. 100 pages in in two days and it’s excellent.
Reposted by Jason Burke
Our Patreon supporters now have access to our latest episode with @jasonburke2.bsky.social about his remarkable book, The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s, and they get their extra 15 minutes with Jason!
Join us here: www.patreon.com/posts/revolu...
#booksky
Join us here: www.patreon.com/posts/revolu...
#booksky
January 23, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Our Patreon supporters now have access to our latest episode with @jasonburke2.bsky.social about his remarkable book, The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s, and they get their extra 15 minutes with Jason!
Join us here: www.patreon.com/posts/revolu...
#booksky
Join us here: www.patreon.com/posts/revolu...
#booksky
...which is not surprising, because I loved my decade spent in the 70s. Was spending hours listening to music as research a bit over the top? Maybe .... But then again ....
Here's the play list again and thanks for listening/reading!
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
Here's the play list again and thanks for listening/reading!
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
THE REVOLUTIONISTS
open.spotify.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
...which is not surprising, because I loved my decade spent in the 70s. Was spending hours listening to music as research a bit over the top? Maybe .... But then again ....
Here's the play list again and thanks for listening/reading!
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
Here's the play list again and thanks for listening/reading!
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
A huge amount missed out obviously. suggestions welcome
but this was fun....
but this was fun....
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
A huge amount missed out obviously. suggestions welcome
but this was fun....
but this was fun....
The Human League, The Lebanon, 1984. Yup, The 80s are definitely here, synths, make up, big hair, shoulder pads and everything. Don't You Want Me a better song obviously but still New Romantics sing about civil wars?. I never knew
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
The Human League, The Lebanon, 1984. Yup, The 80s are definitely here, synths, make up, big hair, shoulder pads and everything. Don't You Want Me a better song obviously but still New Romantics sing about civil wars?. I never knew
Rock The Casbah, The Clash, 1982. British punkrockers tackle MENA politics, the rise of Islamism, secularism and much else. Yes, you can criticise but a hell of an effort. Shareef don't like it ... indeed he didn't.
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Rock The Casbah, The Clash, 1982. British punkrockers tackle MENA politics, the rise of Islamism, secularism and much else. Yes, you can criticise but a hell of an effort. Shareef don't like it ... indeed he didn't.
No More Heroes, The Stranglers, punk at its raw best, but an important point too. Where were the heroes by 1977? The idealism of the late 1960s long gone ... The 80s are on the way ...
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
No More Heroes, The Stranglers, punk at its raw best, but an important point too. Where were the heroes by 1977? The idealism of the late 1960s long gone ... The 80s are on the way ...
This is fantastic. Liza Liza, Elias Rahbani and his Orchestra. 1978 A reminder that yes Lebanon had a horrendous civil war, with huge consequences for the region, and about six chapters in my book, but still managed to produce some great music. another disco hit for Carlos
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
This is fantastic. Liza Liza, Elias Rahbani and his Orchestra. 1978 A reminder that yes Lebanon had a horrendous civil war, with huge consequences for the region, and about six chapters in my book, but still managed to produce some great music. another disco hit for Carlos
Demis Roussos! obviously. mega hit. not such a bad tune either, if you like that kind of thing, or are just a desperate 1970s nerd ...
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Demis Roussos! obviously. mega hit. not such a bad tune either, if you like that kind of thing, or are just a desperate 1970s nerd ...
Boogie Nights, Heatwave, 1976. This one a disco classic obviously, and fabulous. It's the 70s, what's not to like? So this was what Carlos the Jackal would have been dancing to in nightclubs in Baghdad when he stayed there 77-79, as well as ....
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Boogie Nights, Heatwave, 1976. This one a disco classic obviously, and fabulous. It's the 70s, what's not to like? So this was what Carlos the Jackal would have been dancing to in nightclubs in Baghdad when he stayed there 77-79, as well as ....
Chocolate Menta Mastik, Israel's Eurovision entry in 1975 with Emor Shalom, also got cut from the book, where it was meant to suggest the mood in Israel mid decade i.e loss of confidence post-73 war. not a great tune either ngtl
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Chocolate Menta Mastik, Israel's Eurovision entry in 1975 with Emor Shalom, also got cut from the book, where it was meant to suggest the mood in Israel mid decade i.e loss of confidence post-73 war. not a great tune either ngtl
Autobahn, Kraftwerk, 1974. This because a paragraph explaining how mid-70s West German music illustrates/encrouaged the turn away from violence among radicals there was cut from the boo. i won't go into it here, but Kraut Rock important....
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Autobahn, Kraftwerk, 1974. This because a paragraph explaining how mid-70s West German music illustrates/encrouaged the turn away from violence among radicals there was cut from the boo. i won't go into it here, but Kraut Rock important....
Maggie May, Rod Stewart. I know. Terrible song. But - who knew? - Stewart was a favourite of Ulrike Meinhof, co-founder of the Red Army Faction (AKA eponymous Baader Meinhif gang) about whom I could have written a whole book with great pleasure.
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Maggie May, Rod Stewart. I know. Terrible song. But - who knew? - Stewart was a favourite of Ulrike Meinhof, co-founder of the Red Army Faction (AKA eponymous Baader Meinhif gang) about whom I could have written a whole book with great pleasure.
The Good The Bad and the Ugly, Enrico Morricone, which so inspired one West German violent extremist (so did 1966 Pontecorvo Battle of Algiers) that he modelled an execution on the famous shootout scene
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
The Good The Bad and the Ugly, Enrico Morricone, which so inspired one West German violent extremist (so did 1966 Pontecorvo Battle of Algiers) that he modelled an execution on the famous shootout scene
Pink Floyd - Money (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Pink Floyd
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who, '71, is about the empty promises of change by ... the radicals, and was a massive hit. A John Lennon double album around this time full of protest songs was a disaster.
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who, '71, is about the empty promises of change by ... the radicals, and was a massive hit. A John Lennon double album around this time full of protest songs was a disaster.
Revolution - The Beatles, '68- because revealingly they don't want one really, at least not a violent one, and as Mao said, quoted by lots of extremists in my book: A revolution is not a dinner party.
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Revolution - The Beatles, '68- because revealingly they don't want one really, at least not a violent one, and as Mao said, quoted by lots of extremists in my book: A revolution is not a dinner party.
then Subterranean Homesick Blues, Dylan, '65, because hugely popular in UK and Euro squats/communes (and is brilliant)
Umm Kalhtoum because her music was played in the taxi taking a spy whose story i tell from Beirut to Damascus (and obviously all the time every where in MENA)
Umm Kalhtoum because her music was played in the taxi taking a spy whose story i tell from Beirut to Damascus (and obviously all the time every where in MENA)
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
then Subterranean Homesick Blues, Dylan, '65, because hugely popular in UK and Euro squats/communes (and is brilliant)
Umm Kalhtoum because her music was played in the taxi taking a spy whose story i tell from Beirut to Damascus (and obviously all the time every where in MENA)
Umm Kalhtoum because her music was played in the taxi taking a spy whose story i tell from Beirut to Damascus (and obviously all the time every where in MENA)
the first tracks are Led Zep Good Times Bad Times and Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth ('67). One utterly apolitical but angry and loud so very much of its age ('69), other highly political, really captures the anxiety and idealism that fuelled protest in US/elsewhere
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
the first tracks are Led Zep Good Times Bad Times and Buffalo Springfield's For What It's Worth ('67). One utterly apolitical but angry and loud so very much of its age ('69), other highly political, really captures the anxiety and idealism that fuelled protest in US/elsewhere
Here's a fantastic Spotify playlist with some of the best music that features in The Revolutionists.
(yes the book is about terrorism, but it's also about the 70s, so there's a lot of tunes in it)
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
(yes the book is about terrorism, but it's also about the 70s, so there's a lot of tunes in it)
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
THE REVOLUTIONISTS
open.spotify.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Here's a fantastic Spotify playlist with some of the best music that features in The Revolutionists.
(yes the book is about terrorism, but it's also about the 70s, so there's a lot of tunes in it)
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
(yes the book is about terrorism, but it's also about the 70s, so there's a lot of tunes in it)
open.spotify.com/playlist/0NW...
"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-...
read the rest (of this extract from #TheRevolutionists) on the early years of Carlos the Jckal here:
lithub.com/the-rise-of-...
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…
lithub.com
January 16, 2026 at 12:40 PM
"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-...
read the rest (of this extract from #TheRevolutionists) on the early years of Carlos the Jckal here:
lithub.com/the-rise-of-...
v glad you enjoyed the book and thanks for the mention. happy to join you on the show whenever you've time....
January 14, 2026 at 8:31 AM
v glad you enjoyed the book and thanks for the mention. happy to join you on the show whenever you've time....
Reposted by Jason Burke
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
January 14, 2026 at 7:09 AM
The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...
also v excited to see full page in The Economist which says is "an engrossing chronicle of a tumultuous period" and lots more.
www.economist.com/culture/2026...
www.economist.com/culture/2026...
The lessons of the terrorist violence of the 1970s
A new book offers an engrossing chronicle of a tumultuous period
www.economist.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:27 AM
also v excited to see full page in The Economist which says is "an engrossing chronicle of a tumultuous period" and lots more.
www.economist.com/culture/2026...
www.economist.com/culture/2026...