The only comprehensive history available of suicide bombing from its origins in Imperial Russia to the current day, The Business of Martyrdom examines the bombers, their societies, and the organizations that train and sponsor them. Writing for a broad audience, Lewis draws on the history and philosophy of technology in order to explain the evolution and diffusion of suicide bombing across time and from region to region. Lewis presents a model for suicide bombing that integrates individual psychology, organizational motivations, and social support. He argues that suicide bombing is a technology that has been invented and re-invented at different times in different areas, but always for the same purpose: resolving a mismatch in military capabilities between antagonists by utilizing the available cultural and human resources.-- From the book jacket.

Martyrdom as innovation : the invention of suicide bombing in imperial Russia -- The weapon of martyrdom : Lebanon, 1981-1985 -- Martyrdom and control : the reinvention of suicide bombing by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- Trial runs : the Provisional IRA and the Workers' Party of Kurdistan -- Managing martyrdom, part I : Palestinian suicide bombing in the 1990s -- Managing martyrdom, part II : Palestinian suicide bombing in the Second Intifada and after, 2000-2010 -- Globalized martyrdom : the jihadi movement and suicide bombing after 9/11 -- The business of martyrdom.