[Language of Terror:] How Neuroscience Influences Political Speech in the United Statesprovides an intriguing blend of science and political analysis with a dose of linguistics added to the mix, and will delight college-level readers in all disciplines who are also interested in insights about terrorism and security. It's a research piece that considers how political speech can be used to influence voters through behavioral approaches, and it considers specific kinds of political approaches and communication routines that have been crafted to elicit selected responses from audiences. In the process of explaining and exploring this, each chapter offers a speech, analyzes its content, and pairs it with two case studies considering its impact. The result is a study no college-level communications or political science collection should be without.

Midwest Book Review

The book...presents an important methodological contribution to examining the neuroscience that underlies the use of political language in society.

Perspectives on Terrorism

Kendall, Siracusa, and Noguci wrote a tour de force on the role of language in understanding terrorism. In particular, the authors break new ground by looking at how thoughts—which lie within our gray matter and which are ultimately expressed through language—have a lot to do with the terrorist’s personality, ideology, and motivation. I urge experts and non-experts alike to read The Language of Terror: Neuroscience and Political Language in the U.S. War on Terrorism, as this book offers a unique but important approach to better understand—and, hopefully, prevent wars and conflicts across the globe.

Jonathan Matusitz, associate professor, University of Central Florida, Nicholson School of Communication