The Rise of Islamic State

Born of the Iraqi and Syrian civil wars, the Islamic State astonished the world in 2014 by creating a powerful new force in the Middle East. By combining religious fanaticism and military prowess, the new self-declared caliphate poses a threat to the political status quo of the whole region.

In The Rise of Islamic State, Patrick Cockburn describes the conflicts behind a dramatic unraveling of US foreign policy. He shows how the West created the conditions for ISIS's explosive success by stoking the war in Syria. The West-the US and NATO in particular-underestimated the militants' potential until it was too late and failed to act against jihadi sponsors in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan.

“"Quite simply, the best Western journalist at work in Iraq today." --Seymour Hersh "Patrick Cockburn spotted the emergence of Isis much earlier than anybody else and wrote about it with a depth of understanding that was just in a league of its own. Nobody else was writing that stuff at that time, and the judges wondered whether the Government should consider pensioning off the whole of MI6 and hiring Patrick Cockburn instead." --Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year judges "His dispatches from Iraq are an exemplary untangling of the political and social complexity that lies behind one of the world's great crises. He writes fairly, compassionately and clearly, with a steady and knowledgeable eye." --Orwell Prize judges "One of the most accurate and intrepid journalists in Iraq." --Sidney Blumenthal "Authoritative." -- Washington Post”

Quite simply, the best Western journalist at work in Iraq today. -- Seymour Hersh
Accessible . Cockburn describes a continuing tragedy in which hubris and optimism destroyed a seemingly promising revolution. New York Times
Amid the many books published on the current conflicts reshaping the Middle East, few are as informative or perceptive asThe Rise of Islamic State. Observer
Patrick Cockburn has produced the first history of the rise of the Islamic State . No one is better equipped for this task . Indispensable. Daily Telegraph
Patrick Cockburn spotted the emergence of ISIS much earlier than anybody else and wrote about it with a depth of understanding that was just in a league of its own. Nobody else was writing that stuff at that time, and the judges wondered whether the Government should consider pensioning off the whole of MI6 and hiring Patrick Cockburn instead. -- British Journalism Awards judges
A wonderful book. -- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown BBC News
Excellent. -- Richard Norton-Taylor Guardian
His dispatches from Iraq are an exemplary untangling of the political and social complexity that lies behind one of the world's great crises. He writes fairly, compassionately and clearly, with a steady and knowledgeable eye. -- Orwell Prize judges
Patrick Cockburn, of the LondonIndependent, is one of the best informed on-the-ground journalists. He was almost always correct on Iraq. -- Sidney Blumenthal, in an email to Hillary Clinton
Authoritative. Washington Post
Has anyone covered this nightmare [in the Greater Middle East] better than the world's least embedded reporter, Patrick Cockburn? Not for my money. He's had the canniest, clearest-eyed view of developments in the region for years now. -- Tom Engelhardt TomDispatch
Packed with first-class research and analysis . Cockburn draws on his considerable journalistic prowess to render this incredibly complex and misunderstood conflict comprehensible. His experience forms a useful text for those at all levels of familiarity with the conflict. His analysis offers an exceptional window into what is without doubt the most vital conflict the world is currently facing. -- Hans Rollman PopMatters
A brilliant book on ISIS. -- Tom Holland The Andrew Marr Show
An invaluable history of IS along with a powerful critique of Western policy in Iraq and Syria and an unsparing analysis of Shia politics in Baghdad. -- Hugh Roberts London Review of Books
The essential primer on the organization. Vice

Patrick Cockburn is currently Middle East correspondent for the Independent and worked previously for the Financial Times. He has written three books on Iraq's recent history, including The Occupation and Saddam Hussein: An American Obsession (with Andrew Cockburn) as well as a memoir, The Broken Boy and, with his son, a book on schizophrenia, Henry's Demons, which was shortlisted for a Costa Award. He won the Martha Gellhorn Prize in 2005, the James Cameron Prize in 2006, and the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2009. Winner of the Foreign Affairs Journalist of The Year Award 2014.

Out of the failures of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring and Syria, a new threat emerges. While Al-Qaeda is weakened, new jihadi movements, especially ISIS, are starting to emerge. In military operations in June 2014 they were far more successful that Al Qaeda ever were, taking territory that reaches across borders and includes the city of Mosul. The reports of their military coordination and brutality to their victims are chilling. While they call for the formation of a new caliphate once again the West becomes a target. How could things have gone so badly wrong? In The Rise of Islamic State, Cockburn analyses the reasons for the unfolding of US and the West's greatest foreign policy debacle and the impact that it has on the war torn and volatile Middle East.

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