I have no reason to doubt that this is a well-researched and accurate military history of events in the Middle East leading up to the rise of ISIS. I certainly learned some things I hadn't been aware of, including the significant role of Iranian forces in the power vacuum of Iraq, and the utter immorality of al-Assad of Syria.

But much of the book is a litany of names, events, and relationships that it would take hours of research and note taking to keep track of; I admit that it was a chore for me just to keep the major players straight.

What was missing for me was the underlying motivations of these pathetic gangster wannabes beyond the petty desire for money and power. Much is made of the mutual enmity between the Sunni and Shia Muslims, but little is said about the theological reasons for this. Likewise the US and allied forces take a lot of blame for mismanaging the situation, and this sounds at least plausible, but it's generally unclear what the authors think the US should have done instead.

If the intention was to convey to the reader that virtually everyone who's gained a position of power in the Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East has been at least an unethical bully if not an outright criminal, in this they've succeeded. None of these despicable characters deserves an ounce of support from civilized humanity. And while this does shed some light on the reasons for the chaos in this region of the world, there's a definite lack of constructive ideas for improving the situation.

To the rational among us, the answer is clear. Eliminate religion and the justification used by these thugs disappears.