A collection of original case studies of different types of political violence in the 20th and 21st century inspired by the pioneering work of Robert Conquest. It focuses on the origins, manifestations and legitimation of such violence and includes the former Soviet Union, Mao's China, Castro's Cuba and radical-militant Islam.

Introduction: Robert Conquest's Work and Contemporary Political Violence; P.Hollander PART I: SOVIET COMMUNISM The Reception and Significance of The Great Terror; J.Rubenstein Stalin and the Question of Genocide; N.Naimark Leadership Succession and Political Violence in the Soviet Union Following Stalin's Death; M.Kramer Gulag Survivors After Stalin; S.F.Cohen The Mass Media in the Service of Communist Totalitarianism; L.Edwards Post-Communist Political Violence and the Litvinenko Case; J.Dunlop PART II: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES Chinese Political Violence Under Mao and Its Official Interpretations; A.Waldron The System of Repression in Cuba: Policies, Institutions and Victims; M.Werlau Latin American Revolutions and Their Ideologies; M.Falcoff Postcolonial Violence in Africa and Its Western Perceptions; A.Daniels Apologists of Totalitarianism: Islamic and Communist; I.Warraq Stalinist and Islamic Terror; S.P.Cohen The Roots of Arab and Muslim Violence; D.Pryce-Jones