The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists Rarely does a topic of controversial concern such as “Muslim terrorism” receive the attention of a seasoned specialist with decades of expertise. Such is the greatest strength of Charles Kurzmans latest monograph The Missing Martyrs. Here Kurzman interrogates common presumptions that permeate both academic and popular conceptions about Muslim terrorists and their relationship to the Islamic tradition. With a balanced and accessible tone he polemically—yet empirically—answers a widely held false presumption best captured in the question “[I]f there are more than a billion Muslims in the world many of whom supposedly hate the West and desire martyrdom why dont we see terrorist attacks everywhere every day” (7).