Isis ─ Inside the Army of Terror

A newly updated and revised edition of the New York Times bestselling and highly praised book on ISIS—with fresh revelations on Russia’s campaign, how ISIS has evolved, and the failure of America’s policy.

Initially dismissed by US President Barack Obama, along with other fledgling terrorist groups, as a “jayvee squad” compared to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has shocked the world by conquering massive territories in both countries and promising to create a vast new Muslim caliphate that observes the strict dictates of Sharia law.

In ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, American journalist Michael Weiss and Syrian analyst Hassan Hassan explain how these violent extremists evolved from a nearly defeated Iraqi insurgent group into a jihadi army of international volunteers who behead Western hostages in slickly produced videos and have conquered territory equal to the size of Great Britain. Beginning with the early days of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of ISIS’s first incarnation as “al-Qaeda in Iraq,” Weiss and Hassan explain who the key players are—from their elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to the former Saddam Baathists in their ranks—where they come from, how the movement has attracted both local and global support, and where their financing comes from.

Political and military maneuvering by the United States, Iraq, Iran, and Syria have all fueled ISIS’s astonishing and explosive expansion. Drawing on original interviews with former US military officials and current ISIS fighters, the authors also reveal the internecine struggles within the movement itself, as well as ISIS’s bloody hatred of Shiite Muslims, which is generating another sectarian war in the region. Just like the one the US thought it had stopped in 2011 in Iraq. Past is prologue and America’s legacy in the Middle East is sowing a new generation of terror.
 

Praise for ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror

"[A] superb piece of journalism, unsparing in its analysis of the folly of the Obama administration." —Nick CohenThe Spectator (UK)

"The first book to fully explain what ISIS is seeking and why they are such a threat to the world. An absolute must-read for anyone who wants to understand the risk we all face from radical Islam." —Douglas E. Schoen, political analyst, author ofThe Russia-China Axis: The New Cold War and America’s Crisis of Leadership

"A . . . detailed and nuanced story." —James Traub Wall Street Journal

"Weiss and Hassan have produced a detailed and readable book. Their informants include American and regional military officials and intelligence operatives, defected Syrian spies and diplomats, and—most fascinating of all—Syrians who work for Isis (these are divided into categories such as politickers, pragmatists, opportunists and fence-sitters). The authors provide useful insights into Isis governance—a combination of divide-and-rule, indoctrination and fear—and are well placed for the task. Hassan, an expert on tribal and jihadist dynamics, is from Syria’s east. Weiss reported from liberated al-Bab, outside Aleppo, before Isis took it over." —Robin Yassin-Kassab, author ofThe Road from Damascus (Guardian)

"Weiss and Hassan have written the most serious book-length study of the Islamic State so far." —New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

“Recounted in painstaking detail . . . the book presents a granular analysis of the IS’s organization, ideology, funding and recruitment.” —Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, author ofThe Road to Iraq: the Making of a Neoconservative War In These Times

”ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, does a first-rate job of describing the Islamic State’s layers . . . in Syria and in Iraq.” —Paul Berman, author of A Tale of Two Utopias, Terror and Liberalism, Power and the Idealists and the Flight of the Intellectuals

“Concise, valuable, and a compelling read for anyone—general reader or specialist—interested in ISIS.” —Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi,Syria Comment

“Incredibly rich and valuable for the specialist and non-specialist alike . . . it is a rich and nuanced piece touching on all the points that the arrival of ISIS has raised in Syria and Iraq.” —Tam Hussein,The Huffington Post

MICHAEL WEISS is a senior editor at The Daily Beast, a CNN contributor, and the editor-in-chief of The Interpreter, an online Russian translation and news journal presented by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. He has written for Foreign Policy, The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Politico and a host of other publications.

HASSAN HASSAN is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, a fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, and a columnist for The National newspaper. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and the New York Times.