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A review by joshualeet697
ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss
3.0
This was NOT an easy read. This book, while VERY interesting, is not accessible to the layman or the politically ignorant. I found it difficult to grasp a lot of the geopolitical aspects of rival factions etc, being unfamiliar with the geographical and political structures of the middle east. This book is more for a person familiar with the territory, rival groups etc and politics as a means of overview of a complex subject: ISIS.
I could hardly tolerate the first half.BUT that was largely in part to my own ignorance on the subject I later realized. As I became slightly familiar with the groups, cities, political allegiences etc it became a much more interesting read, albeit still one with which I srruggled to comprehend. I resorted to university style underlining, circling, and such forth, as a means of analysing while reading. during the first half i simply tried reading it.
This book has still left me with a lot of confusion. BUT I feel I have a better undersranding of the conflicts than I did. Although... on the other hand.. this book gives the impression that THERE IS NO GROUP or governing entity that is good.. basically portrays just about everyone as bad... Assad, the many rebels, Turkey, Iraq. America, Iran... gives a sense of "there is no hope, the middle east is f%-$ed... oddly there is basically NO mention of Russia in this... hmm
One SERIOUS FAULT with the book is not including a glossary, as many political analysis books tend to do. Thus, as I read, it was difficult to retain in memory who was who, who was allied to who, and what all the acronyms stood for and whose side thw groups stood for under said acronyms. You really MUST have a list of acronyms.
Also, I have always hated end notes. If something is worth noting, put footnotes at the bottom of pages. No one wants to flip to the back of the book every few sentenced. As a university graduate, I have experienced this many times, and to this day I have no idea why publishers/authors do this so often. i suppose for aesthetics most likely.
This is worth a read, but only for someone looking for a complex academic account, not so much for the lay-person. The length of the book helps. had it been twice as long I may have given up, due to the laborious nature of reading and comprehending it. But... sometimes I like a challenge.
I could hardly tolerate the first half.BUT that was largely in part to my own ignorance on the subject I later realized. As I became slightly familiar with the groups, cities, political allegiences etc it became a much more interesting read, albeit still one with which I srruggled to comprehend. I resorted to university style underlining, circling, and such forth, as a means of analysing while reading. during the first half i simply tried reading it.
This book has still left me with a lot of confusion. BUT I feel I have a better undersranding of the conflicts than I did. Although... on the other hand.. this book gives the impression that THERE IS NO GROUP or governing entity that is good.. basically portrays just about everyone as bad... Assad, the many rebels, Turkey, Iraq. America, Iran... gives a sense of "there is no hope, the middle east is f%-$ed... oddly there is basically NO mention of Russia in this... hmm
One SERIOUS FAULT with the book is not including a glossary, as many political analysis books tend to do. Thus, as I read, it was difficult to retain in memory who was who, who was allied to who, and what all the acronyms stood for and whose side thw groups stood for under said acronyms. You really MUST have a list of acronyms.
Also, I have always hated end notes. If something is worth noting, put footnotes at the bottom of pages. No one wants to flip to the back of the book every few sentenced. As a university graduate, I have experienced this many times, and to this day I have no idea why publishers/authors do this so often. i suppose for aesthetics most likely.
This is worth a read, but only for someone looking for a complex academic account, not so much for the lay-person. The length of the book helps. had it been twice as long I may have given up, due to the laborious nature of reading and comprehending it. But... sometimes I like a challenge.