The ISIS Reader

Reviews / Votes

'The authors have painstakingly translated documents, basic texts, press statements and retributory literature, analysing and explaining with copious footnotes, that help the reader understand the ISIS monster and its tentacles.' -- The Muslim World Book Review '[The ISIS Reader] offers a rich view of the signal moments in the Islamic State's early and recent history, coupled with analysis and commentary that is incisive and will be helpful as the world considers the future trajectory of the Islamic State. ... This book will be a valuable resource to scholars from a variety of different disciplines and methodological perspectives.' -- Terrorism and Political Violence 'An important work that should be read by anyone interested in truly understanding the history of the Islamic State.' -- Perspectives on Terrorism 'An extraordinary resource for all defenders of pluralism and the free society.' -- Areo Magazine 'An absolutely essential reference work. The authors have masterfully assembled documents that shed important light on ISIS's ideology, world view, and approaches to warfare and governance, and its place in the Salafi-Jihadi universe.' -- Bruce Hoffman, Professor of Security Studies, Georgetown University, and author of 'Inside Terrorism' 'A remarkable work of textual historiography, "The ISIS Reader" blends a careful selection of primary sources with insightful analysis. Scholarly yet accessible, it is an indispensable resource to understand the world's deadliest terrorist organisation.' -- Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Program on Extremism, George Washington University 'Each author of "The ISIS Reader" is brilliant and authoritative. Together, they have created an essential work, combining carefully curated primary sources with deeply informed analysis.' -- J.M. Berger, Associate Fellow, International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, and co-author of 'ISIS: The State of Terror' 'An enormously useful set of carefully curated primary sources that cuts through the fog of when, why and how ISIS emerged and evolved.' -- Elisabeth Kendall, Senior Research Fellow in Arabic and Islamic Studies, Pembroke College, University of Oxford 'You've seen their graphic violence, but have you read their texts? Few have, but now three leading jihadism experts have parsed the ISIS corpus and produced a fascinating guide through the Caliphate's dark ideological world.' -- Thomas Hegghammer, Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) 'The authors have done a meticulous job of translating key ISIS texts and tying them together into a coherent, historical narrative. Rigorous and authoritative--an essential resource.' -- Anne Stenersen, Research Fellow, Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) 'The ISIS Reader is exceptional and not merely another title to consider for one's personal or academic library. It presents exacting and collaborative scholarship which is, at many points, groundbreaking. A number of audiences will welcome this book, from teachers in under-graduate classrooms, to faculty holding graduate seminars on jihadism and violent non-state actors, to policy planners.' -- Special Operations Journal