ISIS - by Jessica Stern & J M Berger (Paperback)

About the Book

"Updated with new material on the latest global threats"--Front cover.

Book Synopsis

The Islamic State, known as ISIS, exploded into the public eye in 2014 with startling speed and shocking brutality. It has captured the imagination of the global jihadist movement, attracting recruits in unprecedented numbers and wreaking bloody destruction with a sadistic glee that has alienated even the hardcore terrorists of its parent organization, al Qaeda.

Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger, two of America's leading experts on terrorism, dissect the new model for violent extremism that ISIS has leveraged into an empire of death in Iraq and Syria, and an international network that is rapidly expanding in the Middle East, North Africa and around the world.

ISIS: The State of Terror traces the ideological innovations that the group deploys to recruit unprecedented numbers of Westerners, the composition of its infamous snuff videos, and the technological tools it exploits on social media to broadcast its atrocities, and its recruiting pitch to the world, including its success at attracting thousands of Western adherents. The authors examine ISIS's predatory abuse of women and children and its use of horror to manipulate world leaders and its own adherents as it builds its twisted society. The authors offer a much-needed perspective on how world leaders should prioritize and respond to ISIS's deliberate and insidious provocations.

From the Back Cover

In ISIS: The State of Terror, two of America's leading experts on terrorism dissect the new model for violent extremism that the Islamic State, known as ISIS, has leveraged into an empire of death in Iraq and Syria, and an international network that is rapidly expanding. Stern and Berger offer a much-needed perspective on how world leaders should prioritize and respond to ISIS's deliberate and insidious provocations in this compelling, essential account.

"ISIS should be required reading for every politician and policy maker....[Stern and Berger's] smart, granular analysis is a bracing antidote to both facile dismissals and wild exaggerations....A nuanced and readable account of the ideological and organizational origins of the group."--Washington Post

Review Quotes

"ISIS: The State of Terror is a timely and important history of a movement that now defines the 21st century." - Sam Kiley, Evening Standard (London)
"By far the most important contribution yet to our understanding of an organization that remains cloaked in mystery and misunderstanding . . . A brisk, readable, and eye-opening account of ISIS's past, present, and future. This is a book every American should read." - Reza Aslan, author of No God but god and Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
"From two of the world's leading terrorism experts comes a timely and urgent book that is essential reading for analysts and policy makers alike. In what is already a cornerstone contribution, Stern and Berger offer the kind of cold-blood analysis so desperately needed on the poorly understood phenomenon that is the so-called Islamic state." - John Horgan, author of The Psychology of Terrorism
"A timely and urgent book that is essential reading for analysts and policy makers alike. In what is already a cornerstone contribution, Stern and Berger offer the kind of cold-blood analysis so desperately needed on the poorly understood phenomenon that is the so-called Islamic state." - John Horgan, author of The Psychology of Terrorism
"The first serious book to analyze the rise of ISIS . . . Stern and Berger write clearly and persuasively and marshal impressive primary research from ISIS's prodigious propaganda to help explain how ISIS became the dominant jihadi group today. It's a terrific and important read." - Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad
"Understanding ISIS, who it appeals to and why, as well as how it sees itself, isn't something we're supposed to do. One purpose of ISIS' savagery is to make us react without thinking, to compel us to view the world as it does, as a stark conflict between good and evil demanding immediate, dramatic action. In that light, consider ISIS: The State of Terror, a profound act of counterterrorism." - Laura Miller, Salon
"This book should be required reading for every politician and policymaker." - Washington Post
"Stern and Berger pull back the curtain to expose facts and myths about the violent Salafi apocalyptic cult calling itself the Islamic State. A must-read." - Mike Walker, former undersecretary and acting secretary of the United States Army
"ISIS emerged in territory occupied by American soldiers, governed by dictatorial regimes, and fought over by sectarian extremists. Stern and Berger provide context for understanding ISIS's past and considering how its media model may affect future extremist movements." - Kecia Ali, associate professor religion, Boston University
"ISIS: The State of Terror provides a penetrating analysis of how the Islamic State was able to come back from the ashes of defeat after the tribal awakening and surge of the last decade and return as a force even stronger and more cunning. The book provides important context for an evolving organization and proto-state that is attempting to rewrite the jihadi playbook." - Aaron Zelin, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
"A penetrating analysis . . . The book provides important context for an evolving organization and proto-state that is attempting to rewrite the jihadi playbook." - Aaron Zelin, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
"Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger's new book, "ISIS," should be required reading for every politician and policymaker...Their smart, granular analysis is a bracing antidote to both facile dismissals and wild exaggerations....Stern and Berger offer a nuanced and readable account of the ideological and organizational origins of the group." - Washington Post