Boko Haram

“One of Foreign Affairs’ Picks for Best of Books 2018”“A highly useful, timely, illuminating work about a little-understood terrorist group.” * Kirkus *“Thurston’s Boko Haram is lucid, nuanced and authoritative. It is candid about the many remaining uncertainties in the group’s story, and navigates these gaps adeptly, urging that the Nigerian government should politically engage with Boko Haram.”—Azadeh Moaveni, Times Literary Supplement“Remarkable… . [Thurston] breaks from the prevailing narrative that Boko Haram emerged solely because of the poor governance, poverty, and economic misfortune in Nigeria’s northeast. Instead, Thurston appropriately places religion, and specifically the interaction of religion and localized politics, at the center of his thesis.”—Sam Wilkins, War on the Rocks“Absorbing.”—Robert Fulford, National Post“A number of solid journalistic accounts of the rise of Boko Haram have appeared in recent years, but Thurston’s scholarly works stands out and deserves a wide readership. It offers an authoritative take on the group’s murky origins and wisely situates its rise within the context of Nigerian political history.”—Nicolas van de Walle, Foreign Affairs“Thurston’s account of Boko Haram’s rise and how it ‘interacted dynamically with the political dysfunction and economic malaise that surrounded it’ is key to understanding its survival.”—Siona Jenkins, Financial Times“Thurston’s text is … a must for anybody interested in Nigeria’s recent past as well as the dynamics of political and religious development in the larger West African religion.”—Roman Loimeier, Africa Spectrum“We now have what may well become the definitive work on the group in the form of Alexander Thurston’s superbly detailed new book… . Thurston convincingly debunks theories of Boko Haram that would deny its uniquely Nigerian nature … [and] sets straight those who think Boko Haram is primarily an extension of jihadist operations from elsewhere.”—James H. Barnett, The Weekly Standard“Boko Haram: The History of an African Jihadist Movement supersedes everything that has been written so far on the development of this enigmatic jihadist movement in northeastern Nigeria. Based on years of research in Northern Nigeria as well as his knowledge of a vast number of primary sources in both Arabic and Hausa, Thurston is able to present a highly convincing account of the historical development of this jihadist movement.”—Roman Loimeier, Africa Spectrum“A welcome addition to our knowledge of terrorist organizations… . As balanced and comprehensive a treatment of Boko Haram as we are likely to see for many years.”—Robert L. Tignor, Michigan War Studies Review“Thurston’s book represents one of the most important contributions to the field.”—Brandon Kendhammer, Bustan“Thurston has written an immensely valuable documentary history of Boko Haram. The text is concise, well-focused and thoroughly readable, and provides us with essential understandings of this doctrinal movement and its bloody outcomes… Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the roots of this insurgency.”—Scott MacEachern, Islamic Africa

Alexander Thurston is visiting assistant professor of political science and comparative religion at Miami University, and the author of Salafism in Nigeria: Islam, Preaching, and Politics.