First published 2015
Barack Obama once dismissed ISIS as a "jayvee squad" next to al-Qaeda. Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan show how catastrophically wrong that assessment proved. The authors trace ISIS from its origins under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as "al-Qaeda in Iraq" through its evolution into a jihadi force that seized territory the size of Great Britain. They profile key figures including the elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and former Saddam loyalists who joined the ranks. The book reveals how political maneuvering by the United States, Iraq, Iran, and Syria inadvertently fueled ISIS's explosive growth. Drawing from interviews with former US military officials and active ISIS fighters, Weiss and Hassan expose the group's internal power struggles and its sectarian hatred of Shiite Muslims that ignited fresh regional warfare. The authors demonstrate how America's Middle East interventions created conditions for this new generation of terror to emerge.
Genres: history, political-science, terrorism, non-fiction, 21st-century, military-history
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism
Setting: Great Britain, Iraq, Middle East, Syria
Period: 21st-century
270 pages · Paperback · Regan Arts.
Content warnings: violence