'Steve Hewitt provides a concise and fluent examination of over a hundred years of experience of counter terrorism in the UK, showing how legal, political and intelligence strands of policy intersect. He demonstrates clearly the complexities both of understanding the terrorist threat and the difficulties in countering it and argues convincingly that, especially since 9/11, policy has been inadequate and inconsistent.' Peter Gill is Research Professor in Intelligence Studies at the University of Salford, UK.