By some coincidence, since I was asked about this at Edinburgh, A.N. Wilson has an excellent column in the Telegraph today connecting Dostoevsky's Devils/Demons/Possessed with Al Qaeda type terrorism. Now I happen to agree with him on this one, having said much the same in both Sacred Causes and Blood and Rage. A chap in the Edinburgh audience pointed out the huge differences in cultural context, and the non sequitur that Arabs don't read nineteenth century Russian novels. Obviously there are differences. BUT, most terrorists throughout recent history (the last century and a half) have been males aged 15-35. Leaving aside those who are actually criminal or psychopathic, they all practice altruistic, transformative violence in the service of some imaginary super-community or a 'big idea', which invariably they have half understood, or understood too well. I'm with Wilson on this one, and Dostoevsky too. The fact that Sir Simon Jenkins hates the great Russian novelist is also a major reason for thinking that he has something worth saying. If you want a real treat try Joseph Franks five volume life of the writer published by Princeton University Press- a spectacular example of great scholarship which has absorbed Franks since he packed up journalism in the 1940s.