What do you think?
Rate this book
The Carlos Complex
“Carlos the Jackal” (real name Ilich Ramirez Sanchez) was the most notorious political killer of his day.
Shortly before Christmas 1975 the world was shocked by the hijacking in Vienna of the OPEC oil ministers in a spectacular coup which earned Carlos, its organizer, a million-pound “tip” from Libya’s President Gaddafi.
Earlier exploits included bombings in London and Paris, an attack on the French Embassy in the Hague, and the murder of Carlos’ own boss who was double-crossing him. He has been referred to as the organizer of the Munich killings, as well as the hijacking that ended in the Entebbe raid.
Christopher Dobson and Ronald Payne sensationally tracked the activities of Carlos for several years and, thanks to a Rolodex of contacts all around the world, compiled a dossier which went to the core of his activities. The authors were able to draw all their strands together and present a brilliant, brutal depiction of terrorism as it existed in the 1970s.
They showed how the movement came into being, how various elements within it interconnect — from the Baader-Meinhof gang to the Japanese Red Army and several other groups — and how they link up with the Palestinians and ultimately with the Russians, who manipulated these general revolutionaries for their own ends.
Carlos was brought up by his millionaire father in South America and was given a middle name inspired by the Russian revolutionary Lenin. We have a picture of a plump, vain, sociable, and an accomplished ladies’ man, who draws from the girls who help him and hide him a devotion which recalls that of the serial killer Charles Manson.
The story of Carlos, even forty years after the book’s initial release, is modern history at its finest and most tangled. The political spider’s web explains how Carlos became the most wanted criminal in the world, a public enemy on whom Interpol gave the order to ‘Shoot on sight!’
Ronald Payne (1926-2013) was a distinguished newspaper correspondent who focussed on espionage and international crime. He began covering the Middle East in the 1950s, reporting on the Suez crisis and the 1973 Yom Kippur War for the Telegraph. He also conducted a well-publicised interview with Colonel Gaddafi. As a writer he released several books on terrorism and warfare.
Christopher Dobson also wrote books on espionage and terrorism, many of them with Ronald Payne, including The Never-Ending War and The Carlos Complex and, on his own, Who’s Who in Espionage.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
Shortly before Christmas 1975 the world was shocked by the hijacking in Vienna of the OPEC oil ministers in a spectacular coup which earned Carlos, its organizer, a million-pound “tip” from Libya’s President Gaddafi.
Earlier exploits included bombings in London and Paris, an attack on the French Embassy in the Hague, and the murder of Carlos’ own boss who was double-crossing him. He has been referred to as the organizer of the Munich killings, as well as the hijacking that ended in the Entebbe raid.
Christopher Dobson and Ronald Payne sensationally tracked the activities of Carlos for several years and, thanks to a Rolodex of contacts all around the world, compiled a dossier which went to the core of his activities. The authors were able to draw all their strands together and present a brilliant, brutal depiction of terrorism as it existed in the 1970s.
They showed how the movement came into being, how various elements within it interconnect — from the Baader-Meinhof gang to the Japanese Red Army and several other groups — and how they link up with the Palestinians and ultimately with the Russians, who manipulated these general revolutionaries for their own ends.
Carlos was brought up by his millionaire father in South America and was given a middle name inspired by the Russian revolutionary Lenin. We have a picture of a plump, vain, sociable, and an accomplished ladies’ man, who draws from the girls who help him and hide him a devotion which recalls that of the serial killer Charles Manson.
The story of Carlos, even forty years after the book’s initial release, is modern history at its finest and most tangled. The political spider’s web explains how Carlos became the most wanted criminal in the world, a public enemy on whom Interpol gave the order to ‘Shoot on sight!’
Ronald Payne (1926-2013) was a distinguished newspaper correspondent who focussed on espionage and international crime. He began covering the Middle East in the 1950s, reporting on the Suez crisis and the 1973 Yom Kippur War for the Telegraph. He also conducted a well-publicised interview with Colonel Gaddafi. As a writer he released several books on terrorism and warfare.
Christopher Dobson also wrote books on espionage and terrorism, many of them with Ronald Payne, including The Never-Ending War and The Carlos Complex and, on his own, Who’s Who in Espionage.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1977
25 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 24, 2017
First published in 1977, this is a very interesting expose of 1970's terrorism, focusing on the most famous terrorist of the age, with a mini biography of Illich Ramirez Sanchez better knows as Carlos the Killer. Also discusses leftist European and Japanese terrorists groups, the Baader Meinhof Gang (Red Army Faction) and the Japanese Red, various Arab Palestinian terror groups, most notably the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine of the bloodthirsty George Habash and Wadi Hadad. It also has a chapter focusing on the primary sponsor of terror at that time, Muamar Gaddafi and chapter on the hostage taking in 1976 by Palestinian and German terrorists of Jewish flight passengers, who were rescued by an Israel commando at Entebbe.
This in fact very relevant today when there is a stronger bond than ever between Islamic terrorists and Islamist regimes and the nihilistic hard left. This book in many ways reveals some of the roots of this unholy axis of evil. As the author describes how the worldwide network of revolutionaries (relaunched today in 2012 in new lethal forms) dedicated to destroying the fabric of modern society and united behind the sinister 'Palestinian cause', which was the hub of which international terrorism revolved in the 1970s and is still a focus of this today.
In the First Chapter of the book, the authors chose to start their story with the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes by terrorists of the Black September. In this chapter the author dissects the Palestinian 'cause' of the time and relates how the militant Arab states pursued a deliberate policy of keeping the Palestinians as refugees and keeping the refugee camps in poverty.
In the chapter on the Entebbe hostage crisis, the authors describe the obscenity of survivors of the holocaust and other Jews being separated from non-Jews who were released and the obscenity of German terrorists shouting out orders and waving guns over Jewish heads,
The aim of terrorism at the time was to gain the world attention for the causes the terrorists supported which is why the first chapter is entitled 'Terrorism is theater' Habash justified attacks on passengers on flights on the way to Israel in the following perverse way : 'Non Israeli passengers are on their way to Israel. Since we have no control over the land that was stolen form us, and called Israel, it is right that no one may go to Israel without our permission'
Chapter Ten entitled the paymaster details the career up to 1977 of Gaddafi, and their assistance to terrorist groups around the world, and his fanatical hatred of the West and Israel. In the chapter of the Japanese Red Army we read of how the JRA tortured and gruesomely murdered some of its own members for 'bourgeois tendencies' such as that of a young girl for wearing earrings.
This book is still relevant, particularly in it's study of how young Western radicals become involved with ruthless terrorism. today on campuses across the world, anti-Israel hate campaigns such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and the demonization of Israel falsely as an 'Apartheid state' undermines the struggle of five million Jews in Israel to survive. The International Solidarity Movement, a bloodthirsty and hate-filled group of Communists and Anarchists, transports young radicals from around the world to Israel to participate in and aid and abet terrorist attacks against Israel civilians.
This in fact very relevant today when there is a stronger bond than ever between Islamic terrorists and Islamist regimes and the nihilistic hard left. This book in many ways reveals some of the roots of this unholy axis of evil. As the author describes how the worldwide network of revolutionaries (relaunched today in 2012 in new lethal forms) dedicated to destroying the fabric of modern society and united behind the sinister 'Palestinian cause', which was the hub of which international terrorism revolved in the 1970s and is still a focus of this today.
In the First Chapter of the book, the authors chose to start their story with the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli athletes by terrorists of the Black September. In this chapter the author dissects the Palestinian 'cause' of the time and relates how the militant Arab states pursued a deliberate policy of keeping the Palestinians as refugees and keeping the refugee camps in poverty.
In the chapter on the Entebbe hostage crisis, the authors describe the obscenity of survivors of the holocaust and other Jews being separated from non-Jews who were released and the obscenity of German terrorists shouting out orders and waving guns over Jewish heads,
The aim of terrorism at the time was to gain the world attention for the causes the terrorists supported which is why the first chapter is entitled 'Terrorism is theater' Habash justified attacks on passengers on flights on the way to Israel in the following perverse way : 'Non Israeli passengers are on their way to Israel. Since we have no control over the land that was stolen form us, and called Israel, it is right that no one may go to Israel without our permission'
Chapter Ten entitled the paymaster details the career up to 1977 of Gaddafi, and their assistance to terrorist groups around the world, and his fanatical hatred of the West and Israel. In the chapter of the Japanese Red Army we read of how the JRA tortured and gruesomely murdered some of its own members for 'bourgeois tendencies' such as that of a young girl for wearing earrings.
This book is still relevant, particularly in it's study of how young Western radicals become involved with ruthless terrorism. today on campuses across the world, anti-Israel hate campaigns such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and the demonization of Israel falsely as an 'Apartheid state' undermines the struggle of five million Jews in Israel to survive. The International Solidarity Movement, a bloodthirsty and hate-filled group of Communists and Anarchists, transports young radicals from around the world to Israel to participate in and aid and abet terrorist attacks against Israel civilians.
October 31, 2024
he Carlos Complex: A Study in Terror by Christopher Dobson (co-authored with Ronald Payne) is a compelling and meticulously researched dive into the life and career of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known worldwide as "Carlos the Jackal." In this book, Dobson and Payne unravel the story of one of the most infamous and enigmatic terrorists of the 20th century, blending biography with political analysis to explore the conditions that allowed Carlos to become a major figure in international terrorism during the Cold War.
The authors trace Carlos’s journey from his privileged beginnings in Venezuela to his radicalization, training, and eventual involvement with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This connection launched him into a career of high-profile attacks across Europe, including bombings, assassinations, and the infamous 1975 OPEC siege. Dobson and Payne do an excellent job capturing the intensity and ambition that made Carlos both a feared terrorist and a media sensation.
One of the book's strongest features is its examination of Carlos's complex motivations, blending ideological zeal with a penchant for notoriety. Dobson and Payne’s narrative highlights how Carlos’s image was carefully crafted, not just by himself but by the media and political operatives who saw him as a symbol of anti-imperialist resistance. This focus on his personality and image provides valuable insights into the psychology behind his actions and the allure of terror as a political tool.
Dobson and Payne are thorough in setting Carlos within the broader context of Cold War geopolitics. Their analysis sheds light on the interconnected world of state-sponsored terrorism, showing how various regimes, intelligence agencies, and extremist groups enabled figures like Carlos to operate across borders. The book explores the global impact of Carlos’s actions and the underlying tensions between superpowers that fueled terrorist networks.
However, The Carlos Complex can be somewhat dense, with its extensive historical and political background that may challenge readers less familiar with the period. Despite this, Dobson and Payne’s commitment to detail results in a rewarding read for those seeking a comprehensive look at the factors that shaped one of modern history’s most notorious figures.
Given that this book was published in the 70's when Carlos was still 'at large' it would probably be wiser to consult a more recent publication on Carlos, which would include his dramatic arrest and trial in Paris.
Overall, The Carlos Complex: A Study in Terror is an insightful and thought-provoking book that goes beyond the sensationalism of Carlos’s image to offer a nuanced view of the forces that shaped his career. It’s a powerful study for anyone interested in the intersections of ideology, media, and the geopolitical forces that drive terrorism, making it an enduring work on the subject.
The authors trace Carlos’s journey from his privileged beginnings in Venezuela to his radicalization, training, and eventual involvement with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This connection launched him into a career of high-profile attacks across Europe, including bombings, assassinations, and the infamous 1975 OPEC siege. Dobson and Payne do an excellent job capturing the intensity and ambition that made Carlos both a feared terrorist and a media sensation.
One of the book's strongest features is its examination of Carlos's complex motivations, blending ideological zeal with a penchant for notoriety. Dobson and Payne’s narrative highlights how Carlos’s image was carefully crafted, not just by himself but by the media and political operatives who saw him as a symbol of anti-imperialist resistance. This focus on his personality and image provides valuable insights into the psychology behind his actions and the allure of terror as a political tool.
Dobson and Payne are thorough in setting Carlos within the broader context of Cold War geopolitics. Their analysis sheds light on the interconnected world of state-sponsored terrorism, showing how various regimes, intelligence agencies, and extremist groups enabled figures like Carlos to operate across borders. The book explores the global impact of Carlos’s actions and the underlying tensions between superpowers that fueled terrorist networks.
However, The Carlos Complex can be somewhat dense, with its extensive historical and political background that may challenge readers less familiar with the period. Despite this, Dobson and Payne’s commitment to detail results in a rewarding read for those seeking a comprehensive look at the factors that shaped one of modern history’s most notorious figures.
Given that this book was published in the 70's when Carlos was still 'at large' it would probably be wiser to consult a more recent publication on Carlos, which would include his dramatic arrest and trial in Paris.
Overall, The Carlos Complex: A Study in Terror is an insightful and thought-provoking book that goes beyond the sensationalism of Carlos’s image to offer a nuanced view of the forces that shaped his career. It’s a powerful study for anyone interested in the intersections of ideology, media, and the geopolitical forces that drive terrorism, making it an enduring work on the subject.
October 13, 2024
Trezentas páginas sobre a História do Terrorismo nas décadas de 60 e 70 do século XX, isto é, sobre a pré-História do Terrorismo. Memórias de uma era anterior às tecnologias da informação que, mesmo para quem viveu nesse tempo, custa a acreditar que tivesse existido.
January 4, 2013
I found this a few hundred pages longer than it needed to be (for a casual reader at least). I don't know how much of this narrative came from his mystique or from fact. How he evaded being detained in his own flat comes across like magic. It taught me just how much an individual can wield so much power (and money) in a terror network (and how interlinked they are: IRA and Libya for e.g.)
May 28, 2020
The perfect book for millennials who think terrorism began in 2001.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews