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Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100330001-5 TERRORISM OF WORDS ... Continued Italian President Aldo Moro, the read- er is conscious that fact and fiction are bound to intersect in Mewshaw’s story, with violent and tragic results, Other than the “invented” book, Da- vid Rayborne has several real connec- tions to terrorists. Part of the reason he has fled to Italy, in fact, is to recover from a tragic affair of several years earlier, in which a women he lived with was killed in a bomb explosion. Only after her death did Rayborne become awaré that the woman he knew as “Elizabeth Anderson” led a second life as an urban guerrilla named Darlene Spaulding, who was using Rayborne’s articles to send coded messages. A second connection is an Italian friend, Italo Bianchi, a sociologist who teaches at the University of Rome. Un- known to Rayborne, Bianchi is in fact a member of a Red Brigades cell. Hav- ing been forced by the brigades to be- tray a close friend, Bianchi remains a member of the cell. under extreme du- ress; as they point out to him, “no one quits.” Rayborne knows no more about Bianchi’s clandestine relationship to terrorists than he knew earlier about Darlene Spaulding’s, and thus he be- comes vulnerable a second time. The- matic echoes and parallels, frequently intended ironically, are important as- pects of Mewshaw’s literary technique. One of two women in: Rayborne’s life is Stephane von Essen, a young Frenchwoman separated from her Ital- ian husband. Although Rayborne does not live with them, Stephane, her son Marc, and the American journalist have a quasi-domestic relationship, and Mewshaw’s evocation of this menage is touching and lyrical. The other woman, Alison Lopez, is a news photographer with an instinct for danger. Coming to Italy . from war-torn Beirut, Alison forms her own obsession about infil- trating the Italian terrorists. Convinced that David Rayborne can help her make this connection, she pursues and seduces him. Alison and Stephane are antitheses: where Stephane is a calm, nurturing presence, Alison is wild, car- nal and has an almost erotic fascina- tion with violence. Awakened by a se- ries of explosions one night, Alison is enraged rather than relieved to discov- er that they are harmless fireworks SPECIAL EDITION -- TERRORISM -- 26 JUNE 1984 FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL May 1984 Pg. 9 Perspectives On Terrorism. Edited by Lawrence Freedman and Yonah Alexander. Scholarly Resources, Inc., 1983. This collection of scholarly papers and monographs on the subject of cerrorism flows from a series of conferences held over the past two decades under the auspices of the University of Chicago’s Institute of So- cial and Behavioral Pathology. Divided into four main sections (psychological di- mensions of terrorism, the cerrorist in pro- file, hostage-taking and its aftermath, and responding to terrorism), it represents a convenient summation of scholarly thought on this subject. Ir is not for the layman of the idly curious, but is yet an- other useful reference work for those with policymaking responsibilities. As in many other books of this type, there is serious and enlightening thought mixed with the semi-comic. For example, the pedant's love of arcane language occa- sionally emerges: Freedman discusses ter- rorism under the general construct of “po- listaraxia.” There is the ever present Clive Aston, whose fondness for statistical anal- ysis leads him to attempt to explain terror- ism with the help of the bell curve. Not surprisingly, the contribution by Anthony Quainton, former head of State’s Office of Combatting Terrorism, is among the most interesting and for the most part is written in English. While the academic community has in- deed contributed to the study and policy- making aspects of terrorism and its cure (or at least its control) one wishes that more people with “hands on" experience in the field were allowed into the inner cemple. Until that happy event occurs, the aca- demic contribution to this important and troublesome subject will remain peripher- al. —MIcHaeEL F. Speers instead of artillery shells. Mewshaw is’ very successfid in projecting a sense of danger. He is also superb in his depiction of Rome itself, Since he has lived there for a number. ‘of years, he writes about the city with an easy familiarity, Likewise, the po- litical situation and the aura of malev- olence that spread over the Eternal City during that dark period are won- derfully evoked. As Mewshaw tums the screws of his plot, Rome itself al- most becomes another character, an unseen but, palpable presence. “Year of the Gun” is an ‘excellent story—tightly written, exciting and fast-paced. As a portrait of modern Italy and its discontents, it can be com- pared with the work of such writers as Alberto Moravia. Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA€RDP96-00788R000100330001-5