Black Banners from the East


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The Black Banners


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A book that will change the way we think about al-Qaeda, intelligence, and the events that forever changed America.




Black Banners of ISIS


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Introduction: the Islamic State -- Caliphate -- Administration -- Revenue -- Religion -- Women, and children too -- Christians and Jews and ... -- Apocalypse now -- Conclusion




Black Flags


Book Description

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • In a thrilling dramatic narrative, the award-winning reporter traces how the strain of militant Islam behind ISIS first arose in a remote Jordanian prison and spread with the unwitting aid of two American presidents. With a new Afterword Drawing on unique high-level access to CIA and Jordanian sources, Warrick weaves gripping, moment-by-moment operational details with the perspectives of diplomats and spies, generals and heads of state, many of whom foresaw a menace worse than al Qaeda and tried desperately to stop it. Black Flags is a brilliant and definitive history that reveals the long arc of today’s most dangerous extremist threat.




Black Banners from the East


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Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State


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"Anyone who wants to understand the world we live in now should read this book." —Lawrence Wright To eliminate the scourge of terrorism, we must first know who the enemy actually is, and what his motivations are. In Anatomy of Terror, former FBI special agent and New York Times best-selling author Ali Soufan dissects Osama bin Laden’s brand of jihadi terrorism and its major offshoots, revealing how these organizations were formed, how they operate, their strengths, and—crucially—their weaknesses. This riveting account examines the new Islamic radicalism through the stories of its flag-bearers, including a U.S. Air Force colonel who once served Saddam Hussein, a provincial bookworm who declared himself caliph of all Muslims, and bin Laden’s own beloved son Hamza, a prime candidate to lead the organization his late father founded. Anatomy of Terror lays bare the psychology and inner workings of al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and their spawn, and shows how the spread of terror can be stopped. Winner of the Airey Neave Memorial Book Prize




Imam Al Mahdi, the Twelfth Khalifah in the Sahih Sunni Ahadith


Book Description

Who is the Mahdi of Islam? According to both Sunni and Shi'i Muslims, the "guided one" will rise during the end times to conquer all nations. With Jesus Christ, he will bring an end to aggression and injustice, and will establish the Kingdom of God on earth. However, Sunnis and Shi'is disagree about the identity of the Mahdi. According to Shi'is, the Mahdi - an extraordinary human being who will perform extraordinary miracles - is Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Husayni. He was born over a thousand years ago, and is still alive on this earth, but living in occultation, and will reappear during the end times. For Sunnis, however, the Mahdi will be an ordinary and mediocre man by the name of Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Hasani. In "Imam al-Mahdi: The Twelfth Khalifah in the Sahih Sunni Ahadith", author Toyib Olawuyi argues that the identification of the awaited Mahdi with Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Hasani is not established in any reliable Sunni or Shi'i hadith, but is based on only a few unreliable Sunni reports. By contrast, Olawuyi demonstrates, Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Husayni is confirmed as the Mahdi in both authentic and authoritative Shi'i and Sunni sources. "Imam al-Mahdi" is a carefully balanced work of scholarship that will both inform and challenge the views of many Muslims and non-Muslims alike.




A Flag Worth Dying For


Book Description

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Elliott and Thompson Limited as: Worth dying for: the power and politics of flags.




Under the Banner of Heaven


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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.




Away from Chaos


Book Description

The Middle East is one of the world’s most volatile regions. In recent years, from the optimism and then crushing disappointment of the Arab uprisings through the rise and fall of the Islamic State, it has presented key international security challenges. With the resilient jihadi terror threat, large-scale migration due to warfare and climate change, and fierce competition for control over oil, it promises to continue to be a powder keg. What ignited this instability? Away from Chaos is a sweeping political history of four decades of Middle East conflict and its worldwide ramifications. Gilles Kepel, called “France’s most famous scholar of Islam” by the New York Times, offers a clear and persuasive narrative of the long-term causes of tension while seamlessly incorporating on-the-ground observations and personal experiences from the people who lived through them. From the Yom Kippur/Ramadan war of 1973 to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Away from Chaos weaves together the various threads that run through Middle East politics and ties them to their implications on the global stage. With keen insight stemming from decades of experience in the region, Kepel puts these chaotic decades in perspective and illuminates their underlying dynamics. He also considers the prospects of emerging from this long-lasting turmoil and for the people of the Middle East and the world to achieve a more stable future.