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The Islamic State is one of the most lethal and successful jihadist groups in modern history, surpassing even al-Qaeda. Thousands of its followers have marched across Syria and Iraq, subjugating millions, enslaving women, beheading captives, and daring anyone to stop them. Thousands more have spread terror beyond the Middle East under the Islamic State's black flag.
How did the Islamic State attract so many followers and conquer so much land? By being more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state-building than its competitors. The shrewd leaders of the Islamic State combined two of the most powerful yet contradictory ideas in Islam-the return of the Islamic Empire and the end of the world-into a mission and a message that shapes its strategy and inspires its army of zealous fighters. They have defied conventional thinking about how to wage wars and win recruits. Even if the Islamic State is defeated, jihadist terrorism will never be the same.
Based almost entirely on primary sources in Arabic-including ancient religious texts and secret al-Qaeda and Islamic State letters that few have seen - William McCants' The ISIS Apocalypse explores how religious fervor, strategic calculation, and doomsday prophecy shaped the Islamic State's past and foreshadow its dark future.
- Sales Rank: #46867 in Books
- Published on: 2016-08-09
- Released on: 2016-08-09
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.16" h x .3" w x 5.56" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 272 pages
Review
**One of The Wall Street Journal's 10 Must-Read Books on the Evolution of Terrorism in the Middle East**'
**One of ABC News's Books of the Year in 2015**
“Excellent” ―Aatish Taseer, The New York Times
"The story [of Zarqawi's rise] is well told by William McCants in his excellent new book, The Isis Apocalypse" ―David Ignatius, The Atlantic
“Every policymaker and any concerned citizen who wants to understand the rise of ISIS should read this insightful and essential book by one of our greatest scholars of Islamist movements.” ―Lawrence Wright, author, THIRTEEN DAYS IN SEPTEMBER: Carter, Begin, and Sadat at Camp David and LOOMING TOWER: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
“It's hard to imagine anything more alien or revolting than the brutality of the Islamic State. Yet Will McCants's ISIS Apocalypse is lucid, thoughtful and illuminating on the group, its history, ideology and personalities. McCants understands every nuance of the religious concepts that drive the ISIS leadership, and he does a masterful job of explicating them and laying out the group's strategy. This is much the best work yet on the Islamic State.” ―Ambassador Daniel Benjamin, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2009-2012)
“No one knows more about ISIS's doomsday theology than Will McCants. McCants listens to the group with uncommon care and subtlety, and policymakers need to read this book to understand ISIS's origins and plans.” ―Graeme Wood, Edward R. Murrow Fellow, The Council on Foreign Relations Contributing editor, The Atlantic Lecturer in political science, Yale University
"An excellent account of how ISIS came into being...As to the future, McCants wonders if ISIS’s grotesque brutality will prove its undoing. Not necessarily. Up to a point, he argues, brutality works" ―The Economist
About the Author
William McCants directs the project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution. He is adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and a former U.S. State Department senior adviser for countering violent extremism. McCants has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University and lives in the Washington, D.C. area.
Most helpful customer reviews
72 of 76 people found the following review helpful.
The Rise and Fall of the ISIS Apocalypse
By William Struse
If you are interested in understanding ISIS and its underlying apocalyptic vision for the Middle East then look no further. William McCants in, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State takes you on a bloody and violent tour of this doomsday cult in the words and writings of their leaders.
To be sure this was not what I would call a fun read, in fact the history of ISIS reads more like a real life horror story on the scale of the French Revolution or Nazi Germany but nevertheless I believe it is history which anyone interested in the subject would be well served in pursuing.
The Spanish poet and philosopher George Santayana wisely observed that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” There is no doubt in my mind that ISIS and its brutal doomsday apocalysm will go the way of other such abominable regimes but the question is what will we take away from this tragedy so that future generations do not have to experience this terror? That's the real value in reading this book in my opinion.
86 of 92 people found the following review helpful.
“This is not Bin Laden’s Insurgency,” […], “Caliphate”, […, or] “Jihad.”
By C. Townsend
Will McCants writes with expertise and aplomb about the Islamic State, its history, and the foundations of its efforts at regional dominance. While, some of the zig-zagging back and forth in time requires a bit of gymnastics from the reader, the book is both educational and entertaining. Anyone interested in learning about this organization from a truly qualified scholar would benefit from a read of this book.
Dr. McCants proclaims himself, rightly, as a guide, proficient in Islamic theology and history, modern jihadism, clandestine bureaucracies, and Arabic. The good doctor flexes his linguist muscles with translations of original Arabic texts, providing crucial context to the situations he describes.
The book covers the history of the organization, beginning with distinctions between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State; such as, AQ wanted to build popular support for caliphate, but IS wanted to impose a caliphate, regardless of the acquiescence of the masses. The book details Zarqawi’s rise to prominence and obsession with Nur al-Din and Saladin. Zarqawi linked his organization in Iraq to AQ [forming Al-Qaeda in/of Iraq (AQI)] but his brutality drew censure from Al-Qaeda Central. Once Zarqawi was killed and al-Baghdadi became commander of the faithful, AQI dissolved and was absorbed into IS with Masri as minister of war.
From there the book focuses attention on the Islamic State’s flag symbolism and parallels with historical references to the Abbasids. After Masri and Baghdadi killed in 2010, the focus shifted yet again. The group floundered until the Americans left and the Arab Spring happened. The next section details the beginning of the online presence through magazines and Twitter. Cautionary tales and lessons learned by the IS are presented in the rise and fall of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as well as failure to govern by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) and Ash-Shabab (Somalia’s offshoot of violent jihadism). The book turns to the unlikely rise of Baghdadi and details sectarian divides, apocalyptic guidance, and the seizure of Mosul, while detailing some distinctions between the Abassid dynasty and IS.
Dr. McCants concludes noting many of the contradictions make the group hard to explain, noting that IS is “too entrenched for quick solutions.”
The group does not rely on outside funding. McCants believes that airstrikes can degrade, but not destroy, the organization. The only way to damage the Islamic State is to hurt its “ability to endure and expand,” thereby eroding its legitimacy. Sectarian governments must give way to true representation, meaning that Shia governments have to accommodate Sunnis. Noting that Iranian support for Shia militias probably means less attention is required from Coalition partners for those militias, freeing them to focus on Sunni efforts at countering the IS.
The one surprise for me was that the book was really
47% book
5% translations
34% endnotes
14% index and acknowledgements
The translations add value to the manuscript and provide and interesting comparison for anyone interested in comparing Dr. McCants’s translations to other sources. The endnotes show the level of research that went into the work. While the index makes the work more approachable to those without time to read the entire book.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
In a crowded field of books on ISIS, this is the ONE to read
By A.R
Dr. McCants does an outstanding job of explaining the history, development and ideology of ISIS in a way that is accessible to the lay reader. Despite being from an academic background, and citing materiel that is out of reach for your average non-specialist, McCants presents reams of data in a concise manner that provides outstanding insight into not just ISIS but the entire environment in which it grew and spread.
Much of the coverage on ISIS treats the group as if it emerged out of nowhere, but McCants demonstrates how it has been festering for over a decade, taking root in the chaos that Iraq found itself in after the US invasion in 2003. Despite facing multiple challenges and disappointments, ISIS was able to use the continued lack of a cohesive state in Iraq to survive and then use the breakdown of society in Syria to take advantage of the power vacuum in the region to come about.
This is not a fun read, but McCants' writing style makes it easy to follow a relatively nebulous topic.
In order to ultimately defeat ISIS, we need to understand where it came from and where it is going. There is no better guide than this book for achieving that objective.
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