The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State

Graeme Wood

ISBN 10: 0812988752 / ISBN 13: 9780812988758

Editore: Random House, 2016

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The definitive account of the strategy, psychology, and fundamentalism driving the Islamic State, from the author of the groundbreaking Atlantic story What ISIS Really Wants. Fascinating, terrifying, occasionally blackly humorous.--Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, on What ISIS Really Wants Tens of thousands of men and women have left comfortable, privileged lives to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria--and kill for it. To them, its violence is beautiful and holy, and the caliphate a fulfillment of prophecy and the only place on earth where they can live and die as Muslims. The Way of the Strangers is an intimate journey into the minds of the Islamic State's most radical true believers. From the streets of Cairo to the mosques of London, Graeme Wood interviews supporters, recruiters, and sympathizers of the group. We meet an Egyptian tailor who once made bespoke suits for Paul Newman and now wants to live, finally, under Shariah; a Japanese convert who believes that the eradication of borders--one of the Islamic State's proudest achievements--is a religious imperative; and a charming, garrulous Australian preacher who translates the group's sermons and threats into English and is accused of recruiting for the organization. We also learn about a prodigy of Islamic rhetoric, now stripped of the citizenship of the nation of his birth and determined to see it drenched in blood. Wood speaks with non-Islamic State Muslim scholars and jihadists, and explores the group's idiosyncratic, coherent approach to Islam. The Islamic State is bent on murder and apocalypse, but its followers find meaning and fellowship in its utopian dream. Its first caliph, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, has declared that he is the sole legitimate authority for Muslims worldwide. The theology, law, and emotional appeal of the Islamic State are key to understanding it--and predicting what its followers will do next. Through character study and analysis, Wood provides a clear-eyed look at a movement that has inspired so many people to abandon or uproot their families. Many seek death--and they will be the terror threat of the next decade, as they strike back against the countries fighting their caliphate. Just as Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower informed our understanding of Al Qaida, Graeme Wood's The Way of the Strangers will shape how we see a new generation of terrorists. Praise for The Way of the Strangers Readers are taken on a global journey to meet the frothing fans of ISIS. . . . Wood wants to know these people, to get in their skin, to understand how they see the world. Unlike most journalists writing about Islam today, there is no partisan axe to grind here, no hidden agenda to subtly advance.--New Republic The best way to defeat the Islamic State is to understand it. And to do that, the best place to start is The Way of the Strangers]. . . . A series of gripping, fascinating portraits. . . . Wood has the talented journalist's skill for interview and observation. He's an astute psychologist and a good writer to boot. . . . It's a great read.--The Week Graeme Wood] shows, convincingly, that the stifling and abhorrent practices of the Islamic State are rooted in Islam itself--not mainstream Islam, but in scriptures and practices that have persisted for centuries. . . . The Islamic State, such as it is, is a dangerous place, and Wood's book amounts to a tour around its far edges.--Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review.

Codice articolo CIN0812988752G

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State
• Editore: Random House
• Data di pubblicazione: 2016
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0812988752
• ISBN 13: 9780812988758
• Rilegatura: Hardback
• Condizione: Good

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

What does ISIS really want? This is the definitive account of the strategy, psychology, and fundamentalism driving the Islamic State.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FOREIGN AFFAIRS &; &;Worthy of Joseph Conrad . . . gripping, sobering and revelatory.&;&;Tom Holland, New Statesman

The Islamic State inspired a wave of true believers to travel to Syria from Europe, America, and the Middle East, in numbers not seen since the Crusades. What compelled tens of thousands of men and women to leave comfortable, privileged lives to join a death cult in the desert? Steven Pinker called Graeme Wood&;s analysis of this phenomenon in The Atlantic &;fascinating, terrifying, occasionally blackly humorous.&; In The Way of the Strangers, Wood uses character study, analysis, and original reporting to take us further into the Islamic State&;s apocalyptic vision.

Though the Islamic State has lost territory, it threatens to rise again, and its followers are plotting on every continent. From the streets of Cairo to the mosques of London, Wood meets with supporters, recruiters, and scholars and asks them why they believe that killing and dying for this cause is the only path to Paradise. With a new afterword, The Way of the Strangers uncovers the theology and emotional appeal of this resilient group and explores its idiosyncratic, coherent approach to Islam. Just as Lawrence Wright&;s The Looming Tower explained the rise of Al Qaida, this book will shape our understanding of a new and deadlier generation of terrorists.

Praise for The Way of the Strangers

&;The Way of the Strangers represents journalism at its best: vivid writing, indefatigable legwork, and fearless analysis.&;&;Robert D. Kaplan, author of The Return of Marco Polo&;s World

&;Wood is a brilliant analyst and storyteller, and his firsthand reporting and language abilities make him the most reliable commentator on the Islamic State that I have read. His wit matches his intelligence (&;Well-behaved Salafis seldom make history&;)&;you don't get through any two pages in his book without a good laugh.&;&;Peter Theroux, author of Sandstorms: Days and Nights in Arabia 

&;Excruciatingly well observed and devastatingly honest . . . This is the first and only book about the Islamic State to expose, explain, and ultimately undermine its ideology with the relentless irony that comes from blending deep knowledge with hands-on experience. Wood makes it impossible not to laugh, despite the horrors.&;&;Elisabeth Kendall, senior research fellow in Arabic and Islamic studies, University of Oxford

Informazioni sull'autore

Graeme Wood is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. He has written for The New Republic, The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, The American Scholar, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many other publications. He was the 2014&;2015 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and he teaches in the political science department at Yale University.