Walter Laqueur

Walter Ze'ev Laqueur (born 26 May 1921) is an American historian and political commentator.

Biography

Laqueur was born in Breslau, Lower Silesia, Prussia (today Wrocław, Poland), into a Jewish family. In 1938, he left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust.

Laqueur lived in the area that would become Israel from 1938 to 1953. After one year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he joined a kibbutz and worked as an agricultural laborer from 1939 to 1944. In 1944, he moved to Jerusalem, where he worked as a journalist until 1953, covering Palestine and other countries in the Middle East.

Since 1955 Laqueur has lived in London. He was founder and editor, with George Mosse, of the Journal of Contemporary History and of Survey from 1956 to 1964. He was also founding editor of The Washington Papers. He was Director of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Wiener Library in London from 1965 to 1994, From 1969 he was a member, and later Chairman (until 2000), of the International Research Council of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington. He was Professor of the History of Ideas at Brandeis University from 1968 to 1972, and University Professor at Georgetown University from 1976 to 1988. He has also been a visiting professor of history and government at Harvard, the University of Chicago, Tel Aviv University and Johns Hopkins University.

Laqueur's main works deal with European history in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially Russian history and German history, as well as the history of the Middle East. The topics he has written about include the German Youth Movement, Zionism, Israeli history, the cultural history of the Weimar Republic and Russia, Communism, the Holocaust, fascism, and the diplomatic history of the Cold War. His books have been translated into many languages. His comments on international affairs have appeared in many American and European newspapers and periodicals.

He was one of the founders of the study of political violence, guerrilla warfare and terrorism.

Works

• Communism and Nationalism in the Middle East, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul 1956
• Nasser's Egypt, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1957
• The Soviet Cultural Scene, 1956–1957, co-edited with George Lichtheim, New York: Praeger, 1958
• The Middle East in Transition: Studies in Contemporary History, New York: Praeger, 1958.
• The Soviet Union and the Middle East, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959
• Polycentrism: The New Factor in International Communism, co-edited with Leopold Labedz, New York: Praeger, 1962
• Young Germany: A History of the German Youth Movement, New York: Basic Books, 1962
• Neue Welle in der Sowjetunion: Beharrung und Fortschritt in Literatur und Kunst, Vienna: Europa Verlag, 1964
• Russia and Germany: A Century of Conflict, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1965
• 1914: The Coming of the First World War, co-edited with George L. Mosse, New York: Harper & Row, 1966
• Education and Social Structure in the Twentieth Century, co-edited with George L. Mosse, New York: Harper & Row, 1967
• The Fate of the Revolution: Interpretations of Soviet History, London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1967
• The Road to Jerusalem: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1967, New York: Macmillan, 1968 (published in the UK as The Road to War, 1967: The Origins of the Arab-Israel Conflict, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969)
• Linksintellektuelle zwischen den beiden Weltkriegen, co-written with George Mosse, Munich: Nymphenburger Verlagshandlung, 1969
• The Struggle for the Middle East: The Soviet Union in the Mediterranean, 1958–1968, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969
• Europe Since Hitler, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970
• A Dictionary of Politics, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971 ISBN 0-297-00091-8
• Out of the Ruins of Europe, New York: Library Press, 1971 ISBN 0-912050-01-2
• A Reader's Guide to Contemporary History, co-edited with Bernard Krikler, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1972 ISBN 0-297-99465-4.
• A History of Zionism, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1972 ISBN 0-03-091614-3
• Neo-Isolationism and the World of the Seventies, New York: Library Press, 1972 ISBN 0-912050-38-1
• Confrontation: The Middle East War and World Politics', London: Wildwood House, 1974 ISBN 0-7045-0096-5
• Historians in Politics, co-edited with George L. Mosse, London: Sage Publications, 1974 ISBN 0-8039-9930-5
• Weimar: A Cultural History, 1918–1933, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974 ISBN 0-297-76574-4
• Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography, editor, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976 ISBN 0-520-03033-8
• Terrorism, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1977 ISBN 0-316-51470-5
• Guerrilla: A Historical and Critical Study, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1977 ISBN 0-297-77184-1
• The Guerrilla Reader: A Historical Anthology, editor, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1977 ISBN 0-87722-095-6
• The Terrorism Reader: A Historical Anthology, editor, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978 ISBN 0-87722-119-7
• The Human Rights Reader, co-edited with Barry Rubin, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1979 ISBN 0-87722-170-7
• A Continent Astray: Europe, 1970–1978, London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1979 ISBN 0-19-502510-5
• The Missing Years: A Novel, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1980 ISBN 0-316-51472-1
• The Terrible Secret: Suppression of the Truth about Hitler's Final Solution, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1980 ISBN 0-316-51474-8
• The Political Psychology of Appeasement: Finlandization and Other Unpopular Essays, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1980 ISBN 0-87855-336-3
• "Hollanditis: A New Stage in European Neutralism", Commentary, August 1981
• The Second World War: Essays in Military and Political History, London: Sage Publications, 1982 ISBN 0-8039-9780-9
• America, Europe, and the Soviet Union: Selected Essays, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1983 ISBN 0-87855-362-2
• The Pattern of Soviet Conduct in the Third World, editor, New York: Praeger, 1983 ISBN 0-03-063944-1
• Looking Forward, Looking Back: A Decade of World Politics, New York: Praeger, 1983 ISBN 0-03-063422-9
• The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, co-edited with Barry Rubin, London and New York: Penguin Books, 1984 ISBN 0-14-022588-9
• Germany Today: A Personal Report, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1985 ISBN 0-316-51453-5
• A World of Secrets: The Uses and Limits of Intelligence, New York: Basic Books, 1985 ISBN 0-465-09237-3
• European Peace Movements and the Future of the Western Alliance, co-edited with Robert Hunter, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1985 ISBN 0-88738-035-2
• Breaking The Silence, co-written with Richard Breitman, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986 ISBN 0-671-54694-5
• The Fate of the Revolution: Interpretations of Soviet History from 1917 to the Present, New York: Scribner's, 1987 ISBN 0-684-18903-8
• America in the World, 1962–1987: A Strategic and Political Reader, co-edited with Brad Roberts, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987 ISBN 0-312-01318-3
• The Age of Terrorism, Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1987 ISBN 0-316-51478-0
• The Long Road to Freedom: Russia and Glasnost, Collier Books, 1989, ISBN 0-02-034090-7
• Soviet Realities: Culture and Politics from Stalin to Gorbachev, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1990 ISBN 0-88738-302-5
• Stalin: The Glasnost Revelations, New York : Scribner's, 1990 ISBN 0-684-19203-9
• Soviet Union 2000: Reform or Revolution?, co-written with John Erickson, New York : St. Martin's Press, 1990 ISBN 0-312-04425-9
• Thursday's Child Has Far to Go: A Memoir of the Journeying Years, New York: Scribner's, 1992 ISBN 0-684-19421-X
• Europe In Our Time: A History, 1945–1992, New York: Viking, 1992 ISBN 0-670-83507-2
• Black Hundreds: The Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia, New York : HarperCollins, 1993 ISBN 0-06-018336-5
• The Dream That Failed: Reflections on the Soviet Union, London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1994 ISBN 0-19-508978-2
• Fascism: Past, Present, Future, London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996 ISBN 0-19-509245-7
• Fin de Siècle and Other Essays on America & Europe, New Brunswick, NJ, and London: Transaction Publishers, 1997 ISBN 1-56000-261-1
• Guerrilla Warfare: A Historical and Critical Study, New Brunswick, NJ, and London: Transaction Publishers, 1997 ISBN 0-7658-0406-9
• Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind, Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998 ISBN 0-943875-89-7
• The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction, London and New York : Oxford University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-19-511816-2
• Generation Exodus: The Fate of Young Jewish Refugees From Nazi Germany, Hanover, NH, and London: University Press of New England [for] Brandeis University Press, 2001 ISBN 1-58465-106-7
• The Holocaust Encyclopedia, co-edited with Judith Tydor Baumel, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2001 ISBN 0-300-08432-3
• A History of Terrorism, New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2001 ISBN 0-7658-0799-8
• Voices of Terror: Manifestos, Writings and Manuals of Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Other Terrorists from Around the World and Throughout the Ages, Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004 ISBN 1-59429-035-0
• No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-first Century, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004
• Dying for Jerusalem: The Past, Present and Future of the Holiest City, Sourcebooks, Inc., 2006 ISBN 1-4022-0632-1
• The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, London and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006 ISBN 0-19-530429-2
• The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent, Thomas Dunne Books, 2007 ISBN 0-312-36870-4
• Disraelia: A Counterfactual History, 1848-2008, Middle East Strategy at Harvard, 2008, http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/pages/laqueur_disraelia/
• After the Fall: The End of the European Dream and the Decline of a Continent, New York: Macmillan, 2012
• Putinism : Russia and its future with the West, New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2015

External links

• Page at CSIS
• Official site
• Wall Street Journal review of Dying for Jerusalem
• Matthew Asprey's review of "Weimar: A Cultural History"
• Blog in Harvard.edu
• Booknotes interview with Laqueur on The Long Road to Freedom, September 3, 1989.
• Appearances on C-SPAN