A thoroughgoing, high-concentration, analytical history of everyone's favourite band of psycho religious fuckwits.

Fantastic book! It's a must for everyone who wants to be informed about the world.

Extremely informative, if disturbing, book. All of the names and aliases were a little hard to keep up with at times, but this book gave me everything I was looking for on a topic I knew little about and wanted to learn more. Definitely recommended reading for anyone wanting to stay on top of current events and know the motivations behind some of the most vehemently evil beings of our time.

I am pretty aware of the atrocities of ISIS but this book is still rather shocking. From Obama's "they're a JV team wearing Lakers jerseys--not Kobe Bryant" comment to social media's lack of censorship of clear crimes against humanity, it's just gross.

Take aways:

"There is no evidence that a major terrorist event is eminent, but ISIS controls many times more money and men than Al Qaeda did in 2000."

"ISIS is a publicity whore."

The liberality of American social media platforms (especially Twitter) allowed ISIS to grow exponentially faster than traditional methods of spreading their poison.

"More than half the battle against the West and for the hearts and minds of our Umma is taking place in the battlefield of the media." 

"Perception of risk is highly correlated with levels of news coverage."

There is little correlation between objective risk and perception of danger. 

"People evaluate choices with respect to the status quo. We overvalue losses relative to gains. We will pay more to avoid the loss of something we already have than we would to acquire it. We also overestimate the likelihood of rare events and underestimate the likelihood of more common ones. We are at risk of overreacting to relatively minor incidents because they represent a loss relative to the status quo and because of our tendency not to distinguish adequately between 10 deaths and 10,000."

Every Presidential candidate should read this book. ISIS wants us to be afraid and overreact. It helps them recruit more fighters. Our response has to be measured and responsible, unlike what happened in Iraq and Libya. Going in and deposing a dictator often results in a failed state which is "the worst of all possible outcomes." What do all these Republicans think will happen if we go in and destroy ISIS and depose Assad? It is amazing to read about the social media strategy of ISIS and how social media has responded, especially Twitter. It's also fascinating to learn about the split between ISIS and al Qaeda. The Appendix explaining the history of Islam is particularly useful. The best response to ISIS is to preach empathy, tolerance and humanism. Putting a face on the terror, showing that real people and families are affected, that "the enemy" is not The West or some vague combatant. By showing the reality behind acts of terror, it shows the brutality and lack of humanity, thus undermining the legitimacy of ISIS. Responding with force alone is the opposite of a solution.

Those who want to learn about Daesh (ISIS) - Read this book.
Those who want to vastly improve their understanding of Daesh - Read this book.

This was a great read. The authors took a complex topic and attempted to simplify the information in such a way that the layman might understand. In terms of simplification and establishing an effective breakdown of the information, I believe the authors have succeeded. In terms of making the information accessible to the layman, I feel the beginner would benefit from the information contained within this book, though a more knowledgeable reader will glean immense detail. The nuances expressed in the text pertaining to the differences between al Qaeda in Iraq and Daesh, are intricate and critical to the overall understanding.

The authors also wrap up the text with a phenomenal breakdown of terrorism, salafi practices of Islam, as well as definitions and practices of Jihad in its myriad forms.

A clear-eyed, historically conscious account of the rise of ISIS and, more broadly, the evolution of terrorism in the 21st century. Surprisingly full of context for such a current event.

If you can't get through this whole book, I beg of you to please please please, at the very least, read the last chapter and the appendix. As western citizens, our knowledge of this group is made up of headlines and one liners. I hope our leaders and our media will read this book so they can be better equipped to fight the Islamic State.