Description:
Initially dismissed by US President Barack Obama, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has shocked the world by conquering massive territories in both countries and promising to create a vast new Muslim caliphate that observes the strict dictates of Sharia law. In ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, American journalist Michael Weiss and Syrian analyst Hassan Hassan explain how these violent extremists evolved from a nearly defeated Iraqi insurgent group into a jihadi army of international volunteers who have conquered territory equal to the size of Great Britain. Drawing on original interviews with former US military officials and current ISIS fighters, the authors also reveal the internecine struggles within the movement itself, as well as ISIS's bloody hatred of Shiite Muslims, which is generating another sectarian war in the region. Past is prologue and America's legacy in the Middle East is sowing a new generation of terror.
Brief description:
Michael Weiss is a columnist for Foreign Policy, the Daily Beast, and NOW Lebanon. He is also a fellow at the Institute of Modern Russia where he is the editor-in-chief of the Interpreter, an online news and translation journal covering Russian foreign policy and the ongoing war in Ukraine. He has covered the Syria uprising since its inception in 2011 and reported from the front lines of Aleppo in 2012 for Foreign Affairs magazine.
Review Quotes:
"Weiss and Hassan have written the most serious book-length study of the Islamic State so far."
-- "New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice"