Walter Zeev Laqueur (born 26 May1921) is an American historian and political commentator.
He was born in Breslau, Germany (modern Wrocław, Poland), to a Jewish family. In 1938 Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust. He lived in Palestine/Israel 1938-53 and since then in the UK and USA.
He was Director of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Wiener Library in London in 1965-1994. He was founder and editor with George Mosse, of the Journal of Contemporary History and of Survey 1956-1964. He was founding editor of the The Washington Papers. From 1969 he was member, later Chairman (until 2000) International Research Council CSIS Washington. He was Professor of History of Ideas at Brandeis University 1968-1972, University Professor at Georgetown University 1976-1988. He has been visiting professor of history and government at Harvard, University of Chicago, Tel Aviv and Johns Hopkins University.
A Continent Astray : Europe, 1970-1978, New York : Oxford University Press, 1979 ISBN 0-19-502510-5.
The Missing Years : a Novel, Boston : Little, Brown, 1980 ISBN 0-316-51472-1.
The Terrible Secret : Suppression of the Truth about Hitler's "Final Solution", Boston ; Toronto : Little, Brown, 1980 ISBN 0-316-51474-8.
The Political Psychology of Appeasement : Finlandization and Other Unpopular Essays, New Brunswick, N.J. : Transaction Books, 1980 ISBN 0-87855-336-3.
"Hollanditis: A New Stage in European Neutralism" from Commentary, August 1981.
(Editor) The Second World War : Essays in Military and Political History, London : Sage Publications, 1982 ISBN 0-8039-9780-9.
America, Europe, and the Soviet Union : Selected Essays, New Brunswick, N.J. : Transaction Books, 1983 ISBN 0-87855-362-2.
(Editor) The Pattern of Soviet Conduct in the Third World, New York, N.Y. : Praeger, 1983 ISBN 0-03-063944-1.
Looking Forward, Looking Back : a Decade of World Politics, New York : Praeger, 1983 ISBN 0-03-063422-9.
Co-edited with Barry Rubin The Israel-Arab Reader : a Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, New York, N.Y. : Penguin Books, 1984 ISBN 0-14-022588-9.
Germany Today : A Personal Report, Boston : Little, Brown, 1985 ISBN 0-316-51453-5.
A World of Secrets : the Uses and Limits of Intelligence, New York : Basic Books, 1985 ISBN 0-465-09237-3.
Co-edited with Robert Hunter European Peace Movements and the Future of the Western Alliance, New Brunswick, U.S.A. : Transaction Books, 1985 ISBN 0-88738-035-2
The Fate of the Revolution : Interpretations of Soviet History from 1917 to the Present, New York : Scribner's, 1987 ISBN 0-684-18903-8.
Co-edited with Brad Roberts America in the World, 1962-1987 : a Strategic and Political Reader, New York : St. Martin's Press, 1987 ISBN 0-312-01318-3.
The Age of Terrorism, Boston ; Toronto : Little, Brown, 1987 ISBN 0-316-51478-0.
The Long Road to Freedom: Russia and Glasnost, Collier Books, 1989, ISBN 0-02-034090-7.
Soviet Realities : Culture and Politics from Stalin to Gorbachev, New Brunswick, U.S.A. : Transaction Publishers, 1990 ISBN 0-88738-302-5.
Stalin : the Glasnost Revelations, New York : Scribner's, 1990 ISBN 0-684-19203-9.
Co-written with John EricksonSoviet Union 2000 : Reform or Revolution?, New York : St. Martin's Press, 1990 ISBN 0-312-04425-9.
Thursday's Child Has Far to Go: A Memoir of the Journeying Years, Scribner, 1992 ISBN 0-684-19421-X.
Europe In Our Time : A History, 1945-1992, New York : Viking, 1992 ISBN 0-670-83507-2.
Black Hundreds : the Rise of the Extreme Right in Russia, New York : HarperCollins, 1993 ISBN 0-06-018336-5.
The Dream That Failed : Reflections on the Soviet Union, New York : Oxford University Press, 1994 ISBN 0-19-508978-2.
Fascism : Past, Present, Future, New York : Oxford University Press, 1996 ISBN 0-19-509245-7.
Fin de Siècle and Other Essays on America & Europe, New Brunswick, N.J. ; London, UK : Transaction Publishers, 1997 ISBN 1-56000-261-1.
Guerrilla Warfare: A Historical and Critical Study, Transaction Publishers, 1997 ISBN 0-7658-0406-9.
Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind, Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998 ISBN 0-943875-89-7.
The New Terrorism : Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction, New York : Oxford University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-19-511816-2.
Generation Exodus : the Fate of Young Jewish Refugees From Nazi Germany, Hanover, NH ; London : University Press of New England [for] Brandeis University Press, 2001 ISBN 1-58465-106-7
"Dying for Jerusalem": The Past, Present and Future of the Holiest City, Sourcebooks, Inc, 2006 ISBN 1-4022-0632-1.
The Changing Face of Antisemitism: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, Oxford University Press, 2006 ISBN 0-19-530429-2.
The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent, Thomas Dunne Books, 2007 ISBN 0-31-236870-4.
References
Co-edited by Jehuda Reinharz and George L. MosseThe Impact of Western Nationalisms : Essays Dedicated to Walter Z. Laqueur on the Occasion of his 70th birthday, London : Sage, 1992 ISBN 0-8039-8766-8.