The ISIS Apocalypse, William McCants
The ISIS Apocalypse, William McCants
16 Rating(s)
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The ISIS Apocalypse
The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State

Author: William McCants

Narrator: Stephen McLaughlin

Unabridged: 6 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/22/2015

Synopsis

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's The ISIS Apocalypse explores how religious fervor, strategic calculation, and doomsday prophecy shaped the Islamic State's past and foreshadow its dark future.

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.

About William McCants

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.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on April 04, 2019

One of the surprising effects of reading this book was to make me nostalgic for the good old days of Bin Laden. William McCants makes it clear that—compared to The Islamic State—al-Quaeda had an enlightened, humane view of jihad. Just like the U.S. in Vietnam (my comparison, not McCants') al-Quaeda w......more

Goodreads review by Anand on November 24, 2015

This book stands out in the ISIS-hysteria genre because it relies extensively on primary sources, particularly on captured documents from al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq, and others. The author demonstrates convincingly that the key difference between ISIS and al Qaeda central appears to be stra......more

Goodreads review by Murtaza on October 07, 2015

A meticulously sourced history of the "Islamic State" from its beginnings during the Iraq War til today, taking a look at its origins, operations, as well as its apocalyptic motives and justifications. It is certainly a superior book to Hassan and Weiss's offering on the subject, as it appears admir......more

Goodreads review by Steven on October 03, 2015

Since 2014 a number of interesting works have appeared that try to explain the background history of the rise of the Islamic State(ISIS) and why it has been successful to date. William McCants, the Director of the Project on U.S. relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution has adde......more

Goodreads review by Hamza on April 09, 2016

My review of this book is for the "advance uncorrected proof" that I won in a Goodreads giveaway. This book is good, no doubt, and will offer a lot of behind-the-scenes info about the founding of the so-called Islamic State, how it relates to al-Qaeda and other groups, and lots of other juicy stuff.......more

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