Reddit reviews The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State

I have a long list of books that I usually recommend to people who are interested in these types of subjects. Here are some that may be of interest to you. If you are ever interested in more books on the Middle East or international affairs issues, check out the r/geopolitics wiki.

As for the books that have been recommended to you, they are pretty good. I even repeated a few of them in my recommendations. The only ones that I would have reservations about are Gen. Daniel Bolger's because I have never read it.

Author | Title | Synopsis
---|---|----
Daniel Byman | Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know | A terrific primer on al-Qaida, ISIL, and jihadism. Its a brief outline of the history of al-Qaida, its ideological underpinnings, and the rise of ISIL in the shadow of the Syrian Civil War.
Lawrence Wright | The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 | Probably the most approachable and argueably the best book for outlining the pro-9/11 history of al-Qaida and why 9/11 happened.
Michael Wiess and Hassan Hassan | ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror | One of several recent books on ISIL, this one provides an overview on the history and organization of ISIL.
Charles Lister | The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency | Written by an expert on jihadism in Syria, this books looks at the history and evolution of jihadists in the Syrian conflict.
Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger | ISIS: The State of Terror | Written by two top experts in the study of terrorism, this book focuses on how ISIL radicalizes and recruits individuals from all over the world to join their cause.
William McCants | The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State | An examination of ISIL's worldview and how it influenced its growth and strategy.
Kenneth Pollack | The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict Between Iran and America | An excellent overview of the history of relations and tensions between the United States and Iran over the decades. Pollack published a second book on U.S.-Iranian relations in the wake of Iran's nuclear program called Unthinkable: Iran, the Bomb, and American Strategy
Bob Woodward | Obama's Wars | Outline of the U.S. foreign policy decision making towards Iraq and Afghanistan in the early years of the Obama administration.
Michael R. Gordon | The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama | Follows U.S. strategic and political decision making process during the Iraq War and the U.S. occupation.
Peter R. Mansoor | Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War | An extensive outline of the development and outcome of the Surge during the U.S. Occupation of Iraq.
Mark Mazzetti | The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth | An overview of the CIA's targeted drone program against terrorist organizations.
Michael Morrell | The Great War of Our Time: The CIA's Fight Against Terrorism--From al Qa'ida to ISIS | Written by the former acting director of the CIA, this book examines U.S. counterterrorism successes and failures of the past two decades.

AQI is literally ISIS, it's leader (Zarqawi) took orders from AQ until he wanted to go along a different route, Bin Laden advised him to not be so harsh on a population and not target shia's but Zarqawi didn't listen and that's when they became the Islamic state. It's possible AQ has guys ready to go set up shop in Iraq post ISIS but I dunno they know they're not really wanted their and this round the gov in Baghdad is going to try and reel Mosul and Anbar a lot closer than it had post 2003 to ensure nothing like ISIS happens again.

If you're interested this book goes into great detail http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-ISIS-Apocalypse-Strategy-Doomsday/dp/1250080908

I think maybe you would benefit from a deeper understanding of the jihadi movement as a whole, and how ISIS differs from al Qaeda, and how both of them differ from groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

It's entirely possible for a lone-wolf conservative Muslim to be so enraged by Western culture that he blows himself up at an Ariana Grande concert, but the groups mentioned above all have distinct objectives. It's not hatred of Western culture that motivates them - they hate the West, or claim to when it's convenient, but that's not what gets them out of bed in the morning. Al Qaeda isn't much of a player these days, but basically, OBL and al-Zawahiri believed they could restore the Muslim world to its past glory by freeing Mecca & Medina from the rule of a Saudi monarchy corrupted by American influence. Their plan for doing so was to attack countries, like the US, with governments that kept the House of Saud in power, making it too painful to continue that support - leaving Mecca and Medina ripe for recapture by "real" Muslims, after which god would bless all of Islam. Yes, it's true.

ISIS apparently takes things a step farther, and adds the element of eschatology: literally everyone except ISIS (including other Salafist jihadis who deviate from ISIS' dogma in the slightest) is the in the witting or unwitting service of the Antichrist. It remains to be seen how committed ISIS leadership is to the group's rhetorical and theological positions - apparently, a lot of the top people are former Ba'athists who lost power when Saddam Hussein fell - but basically, the idea is that attacks against the West will inspire the West to retaliate, which will unite all Muslims behind ISIS, cause the Madhi to emerge and Christ to return.

Again, the common thread is that attacks against the west are a means to an end, and the end in both cases is the purification of Islam - which is to be expected for movements rooted in/related to Wahhabism.