"The Language of Terrorists moves beyond the failing notion that explicit threats of violence are the best markers of potential terrorists. A perfect storm of factors - the overwhelming amount of data now available about us all online, the self-censorship adopted by those who might wish to maintain a presence on popular social media platforms, the evolving modes and manners of our behavior - has made it increasingly difficult to tell the difference between bluster and real intention. This book presents the daring yet carefully grounded argument that detecting subconscious psychological factors in speech might serve as a more reliable predictor of violence than simply taking explicit threats at face value. Ebner examines fifteen terrorist manifestos to distil the patterns found in statements that were published shortly before their authors committed violent attacks and compares them to political manifestos across the political spectrum, demonstrating that the terrorist manifestos demonstrate a unique loss of personal identity in the face of group involvement on the part of the writer. Alongside these analyses, she also considers the ethical implications of looking at writings in this way in terms of free speech, privacy, and political speech, and cautions how rhetorical similarities in terrorist threats and political statements can be easily exploited by authoritarian leaders. The Language of Terrorists takes a novel approach to unpacking this important component of radicalization and terrorist action and what it can tell us about preventing violence while preserving freedom of expression"-- Provided by publisher.