One of the surprising effects of reading this book was to make me nostalgic for the good old days of Bin Laden.

William McCants' makes it clear that—compared to The Islamic State—al-Quaeda had an enlightened, humane view of jihad. Just like the U.S. in Vietnam (my comparison, not McCants') al-Quae... ...more

Impressive and well-informed history of the so-called Islamic State - describes the rise of its millenarian beliefs after the US invasion of Iraq; the use of hadiths (many times with dubious interpretation of prophecy to justify its claims); its schism with Al-Qaeda; its political ideology and us... ...more

The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State by William McCants is the history of growth the Islamic State movement. McCants is a fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy and director of its Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookin... ...more

This book stands out in the ISIS-hysteria genre because it relies extensively on primary sources, particularly on captured documents from al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq, and others. The author demonstrates convincingly that the key difference between ISIS and al Qaeda central appears to be s... ...more

A meticulously sourced history of the "Islamic State" from its beginnings during the Iraq War til today, taking a look at its origins, operations, as well as its apocalyptic motives and justifications. It is certainly a superior book to Hassan and Weiss's offering on the subject, as it appears ad... ...more

Since 2014 a number of interesting works have appeared that try to explain the background history of the rise of the Islamic State(ISIS) and why it has been successful to date. William McCants, the Director of the Project on U.S. relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution has a... ...more

My review of this book is for the "advance uncorrected proof" that I won in a Goodreads giveaway.

This book is good, no doubt, and will offer a lot of behind-the-scenes info about the founding of the so-called Islamic State, how it relates to al-Qaeda and other groups, and lots of other juicy stuf... ...more

A really good take on the advent and rise of the Islamic State aka ISIS. Scholarly in some parts but with the subject it's addressing, it's bound to be. Now waiting for the sequel chronicling the demise! ...more

An insightful study on an emerging threat to the region in which it grows and--as evidenced by recent events in Europe and perhaps in America--to the greater Western World.

The author blends his knowledge of middle eastern culture, Islamic theology, language, and diplomatic analysis, with well-ref... ...more

Well informed and highly relevant. If you want to understand wtf is going on you need to read this. Certainly changed some of my well entrenched views on the topic. I never really brought into the highly divided Muslim world line, but after reading this I do understand how divided it is, and why.... ...more