This book took forever to read and I nearly gave up several times, but I really wanted to try to understand how everything came to be. It was really hard to keep track of all the cast of characters - a few of the names I recognized from the news, but there were so many more. On top of that, there were all the nom de guerres; just so challenging to keep all the major players apart. And so many factions to try to keep track of: Shia, Sunni, Baathists, al-Qaeda, Takfiris, Salafists, al-Nusra, al-Dawla, the Brotherhood, the Awakening - and those are the ones coming to me off the top of my head. There are so many more. Additionally, the authors state again and again how geography plays a major role, but I have a very limited understanding of the geography of the area. I could probably find Bagdad and Damascus on a map, but the rest of the locations didn't mean a thing to me, so I think that part went right over my head. And being someone who has only known democracy, however flawed it's practiced, I could not wrap my mind around tribalism, yet knowing how the various tribes will react and how to countermand those actions plays into the success of ISIS in the area where western thought will often find the same situation irrational.

That said, the book is broken down into shorter sections in attempt to clarify and distinguish the identities and motives of each group. The authors spoke to many people including former ISIS members, former Saddam government personnel, US military officers , government officials, etc. I would recommend this book to anyone who truly wants to understand and is willing to make the effort. I hope our leaders have read this or something similar and have a clearer picture than I do. I would say Donald Trump should read it before he ignorantly opens his mouth again on the topic, but I'm afraid it's above his reading comprehension level.