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It's become so hard to follow the different factions in the current Middle East situation, and ISIS seemed to come from nowhere, so when I saw this book, I decided to see whether it clarified things for me. It helped a lot, although I'm not going to say I totally understand yet. For one thing, the names, both of the major players and the groups that formed and disbanded and the ones that have survived to compete with each other are often so similar that it's difficult to keep the players straight.

Weiss and Hassan, journalists and analysts in this region of the Middle East, have followed the rise of ISIS from it's early days as the descendant of Al Qaeda in Iraq. I learned that part of his people.
their success is due to the fact that many of Saddam Hussein's trained officers are leading their military efforts - and we're talking mid-level officers who actually did the work, not the generals who were usually political or family appointees. ISIS isn't just a "rabble in arms." I was also appalled by how Syrian leader Assad has played the situation to his own benefit at the expense of

Two things would have earned this book a higher rating from me. Maps would have helped a lot, and occasionally the authors seem to assume that we know more than we do. Still, I believe that with this background, I can now stay up with the news reports and better understand what's happening.