"What kind of people are suicide bombers? How do they justify their actions? In this meticulously researched and sensitively written book, journalist Christoph Reuter argues that popular views of these young men and women - as crazed fanatics or brainwashed automatons - fall short of the mark. In many cases these modern-day martyrs are well-educated young adults who turn themselves into human bombs willingly and eagerly - to exact revenge on a more powerful enemy, perceived as both unjust and oppressive. Suicide assassins are determined to make a difference, for once in their lives, no matter what the cost. As Reuter's many interviews with would-be martyrs, their trainers, friends, and relatives reveal, the bombers are motivated more by how they expect to be remembered - as heroic figures - than by religion-infused visions of a blissful life to come."--Jacket.

This translation originally published: 2004.

Introduction : the power of the powerless, the powerlessness of the powerful -- Chap. 1. The original assassins : a history of faith and power in the Islamic world -- Chap. 2. A key to paradise around their necks : Iran's suicide battalions -- Chap. 3. The marketing strategies of martyrdom : Hezbollah in Lebanon -- Chap. 4. Israel and Palestine : the culture of death -- Chap. 5. Suicide or martyrdom? : modern Islam and the feud of the Fatwas -- Chap. 6. Bushido replaces Allahu akbar : the Japanese Kamikaze -- Chap. 7. The parasites of anger : al-Qaeda and the Islamist Internationale -- Chap. 8. Separatist movements and female suicide bombers : the cases of Sri Lanka and Kurdistan -- Chap. 9. After martyrdom : recent developments in Iran -- Notes -- Index.