Caravan of Martyrs: Sacrifice and Suicide Bombing in Afghanistan, by David B. Edwards

The exploration of suicide bombers in the academic literature has largely focused on one of three dimensions of the phenomenon. Some emphasized its strategic logic and tactical efficacy; suicide bombings terrify us, garner media attention, and kill more people than conventional terrorist attacks (Pape 2005). Others sought to uncover the psychological antecedents that push some to volunteer for suicide missions, including the quest for significance, feelings of humiliation, or small group pressures (Kruglanski et al. 2009; Willer 2009; Merari 2010). Some other investigated the religious and ideological rationalizations that remove inhibitions to suicide by framing the act as a form of martyrdom (Hatina 2014; Kitts 2018).