Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe

by Malcolm W. Nance, Michael Kramer (Reading)

ISIS--the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria--has taken on the mantle of being the single most dangerous terrorist threat to global security since al-Qaeda. In Defeating ISIS, internationally renowned intelligence veteran, author, and counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance gives an insider's view to explain the origins of this occult group, its violent propaganda, and how it spreads its ideology throughout the Middle East and to disaffected youth deep in the heart of the Western world. Most importantly, Defeating ISIS gives a step-by-step analysis of the street-level tactics the group has employed in assaults against fortified targets, in urban combat, and during terrorist operations such as those in Paris during the November 13 attacks. As much as ISIS is a threat to Western targets and regional stability in the Middle East, Nance describes not only its true danger as a heretical death cult that seeks to wrest control of Islam through young ideologues and redefine Islam as a fight to the death against all comers, but also how to defeat it. Defeating ISIS is the first highly detailed look into the organization by one of the world's foremost authorities in counterterrorism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, War, Terrorism, Military Fiction, Islam

1 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Malcolm Nance is a globally recognized counter-terrorism expert and Intelligence Community member who has been deployed to intelligence operations in the Balkans, Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa.

He is the author of several best-selling counter-terrorism and intelligence books, including The Plot to Hack America, Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe, and The Plot to Destroy Democracy.

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent outline of the formation, organization, financing, and ideology of the death cult we know as ISIS. On the one hand, the book is frightening, but on the other hand, there are strategies we could undertake to defeat them if we would exercise the political will (which may be doubtful). Should be required reading for politicians so they actually know what they are talking about. What I really liked is the author's insistence that we separate ISIS from any reference to Muslims, because if anything, they are anti-Islam. "...the primary message from America should be “unite with us to defend Islam and destroy ISIS worldwide.”". One very interesting thing I learned is how ISIS incorporates Jesus in its ideology. "Then the path to a clash of civilizations against the West would bring about the blessed End of Times with the defeat of the Anti-Christ by the Prophet Isa or Jesus, son of Mary. These beliefs are scripture in Islam but form the raison d’etre of the Cult of Jihad. Technically one could say they Jihad for Jesus ." The book has some redundancies and typos, but the educational content is unquestionable. We really need to educate ourselves better on this lunatic fringe group, because they are certainly educating themselves about us, and using what they learn against us.

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

finished this one this afternoon, 4:21 now, the 16th of may 2017. good read. i liked it.

took a bit of a vacation while reading this one, read some on the plane out, read some there, read some on the plane back. reads like a sears roebuck catalog of all things isis. catalog, almanac, crib notes, isis.

and...having read it now, i can safely say without any qualms that i'm likely to be mistaken: nobody is dong anything remotely close to what nance suggests one should do to defeat isis.

like the bubble burst, the great train wreck to the economy, almost like it is designed to happen. i mean, really, they expect something different?

in a nutshell: nance says isis can only be defeated by making the world see and know that they are ultimately nothing more than a cult. kharijites

does write: virtually every major religious leader in islam has denounced the cult's actions are un-islamic, but still western news media ignore the muslim world's efforts. western governments need to make amplifying the muslim rejection of cultists as priority number one.

what do we have instead? from my seat in the litter-box i hear overwhelmingly that we are not to denigrate the muslim, one...two, we are not to use the word islam and terrorist in the same thought. to a smaller degree, i've seen others, some with an audience, most without, high-lighting some of the prophet's words or...directions...whatever the word is for lying to another to advance one's muslim/islamic world. starts with a "t"...probably has some "q"-s in it. eh? for what it's worth.

reading this...it does make me wonder about the "average muslim". having read in that other one...was it No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes...? Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan? i think the ladder. the one, husband of one of those profiled? read the koran, clean through. sounded like the first time. what does the "average muslim" know or believe? say, if isis is a cult, as nance argues here, why is there a serious lack of the...what? the western world questioning them? say like, if you compare how some reject some reject's views of christianity. as in cults. or...say you know where christianity and the bible stand on homosexuality. usually, the argument continues, "but eating certain meat is also a sin, therefore" this, that, the other. unless i'm mistaken, the koran also makes a stand on homosexuality, but one rarely, if ever, hears anything about that. the taboo again of speaking against islam/muslims/ and hence, the koran. "they" conveniently ignore that gays are tossed off high buildings, the "fallen" man.

hmmmm, what else? anyway, have been reading some non-fiction related to the middle east and the surrounding area. came to this one 'cause it was available, kindle, library loan, didn't have to wait. so forth, so on. "defeating isis" if the content can be assigned of percentage of the title, that part is...what? 2%? give or take.

mmmmm, but what...seems to me that there is a ready-made audience for the message of isis and i don't know that nance ever really touches on that. sure, he has his shorts in a twist for all the named reasons....this happened, that happened, and so this that the other. case closed. as the man said, the debate is over. get with the program.

but seems to me that there sure has been a helluva number of muslim men and women...ages? young mostly? although the "appeal" wasn't addressed, i don't think, so what are the ages, really? we hear and nance relates the numbers (he has a list) from the various countries. don't know that the list is anything more than 'numbers'. 2 from timbucktoo, 45 from podunk, 137 from twizzemtwat. but the...appeal...okay, bush invaded iraq, isis is born. sure, if we limit the argument to the invasion. but the appeal seemed like it was present pre-invasion. and given the turn of events there in the area, as the one whose name cannot be spoken said, what difference does it make? the appeal was there. what? they all want to get back to their roots?

which brings up the question again of just what the average muslim knows about islam. i mean, you get this idea they can quote chapter and verse, and yet in the one nonfiction, the guy read the koran clean through, sounded like the firs time...and he celebrated. so just how much does the average joe mohammed know? to, you know, say if isis is actually a cult or not? hey now! hold up there, hot-foot, that's not what the prophet meant!

does it all come down to winning one for the gipper mohammed? our team? we love our team? let them all go to hell, except for cave #19? close enough for horseshoes and nobody is giving a quiz on any of it, anyway?

nance takes the assorted arguments about what has been happening, defines them by three camps...a radical or extremist form of islam...religion itself is the problem....a second camp (happy campers, all)...says they are un-islamic...and nance has the military in a third camp, that labels the terrorists are criminals whose religious or political ideology is irrelevant...and finally, nance's fourth camp, unifying argument that is eually as accurate, incorporates all of the concerns of the above camps, and provides a satisfying explanation of the jihadist's ideology: the global jihad movement is arguably the most wealthy, influential, and virulent terror cult in the history of mankind.

a religious cult.

i don't know...what else? reading some of this, i got the sense that there's more to the fabric...the links to the modern-day al-qaeda and isis are astonishing. there were rumors that trucks from the largest construction contractor in saudi arabia working on the shrine were used to smuggle in weapons.

nance does make a few arguments of the like one can find if one looks into the issue of christianity. say like, the terrorist's adoption of the story of the prophet mohammed's hijrah, or "emigration" from mecca to medina to found islam, has been coopted by the terrorists to mean leaving the modern world and one's family behind. one among a dozen or so give or take smaller arguments spread throughout the telling. another that comes to mind is something that outfit in africa did...bokum harem or how-some-ever they are called. isis is "jaw-dropping" hypocritical about mass murder...the u.s.a. the big satan for this that the other...while they claim to speak for the rocks and carry out big satan's work. genocide, rape, slavery in the name of the muslim world. and too, some on the idea of jihad, that i've herd before after a fashion.

raphael lemkin...was the originator of the term genocide?

yeah...rambling...but enough for me to make some sense of things. few more bricks in the wall, the mortar joints are a tad on the messy side. that is all.

nance writes: obviously, any further academic debate on whether to call al-qaeda or the isis terrorist groups islamic or un-islamic is pointless.

which, to me, sounds like he is arguing against what he argues for. maybe it's a matter of degree. does make the point there are some words that they truly hate. the arabic acronym daesh does not truly bother them, but call them by the name of the first islamic cult group that the prophet mohammed warned against, and they become unglued. in isis's early 2015 ramadan audio recording, they demonstrated surprising sensitivity to allegations that they are un-islamic and to being equated with the khawarij.

see what i mean?

another thought i had early on. nance made some isis/taliban comparisons. on the one hand, he argues one thing...isia, they're bad to the bone. at times it almost reads like praise. they're rock stars. the boys are back in town again. worst than the taliban. and yet, isis schools their girls. the taliban forbid girls education.

[Charlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

​Have you ever said, "This is what is wrong with this country!," in relation to people not paying enough attention to what is going on? Well, while trying to focus on this book, I kept saying, "I am what is wrong with this country." I tried so hard to focus, but as soon as I got a few chapters in, it read like a boring, never ending news report​. I had to expend a lot of energy to remain focused. This was quite a surprise to me because I just finished Nance's The Plot to Hack America, which was a gripping, page turner. In Plot, Nance delivered true facts in a non sensational manner that still managed to leave me on the edge of my seat with slacked jaw.

In ISIS, Nance chose to relate aspects of ISIS using a "just the facts, Ma'am," approach. For example, he was relating bomb attack after bomb attack. The material was as gripping as material gets. There are suicide bombers, whose mission it is to drive up to bakeries or other normal shops and blow up themselves and as many people as possible. One man, who had small children and a wife, jumped atop one suicide bomber, making sure he took most of the blow, saving the lives of many. These stories weren't even stories. They were facts that read like, Date, Time, Action. Then onto the next Date, Time, Action. And every time he mentioned a Muslim associated word, he would literally frame it in dictionary terms- many, many times throughout the book.

Example: A hijab (/hɪˈdʒɑːb/, /hɪˈdʒæb/, /ˈhɪ.dʒæb/ or /hɛˈdʒɑːb/; Arabic: حجاب‎‎ ḥijāb, pronounced [ħiˈdʒæːb] or [ħiˈɡæːb]) is a veil traditionally worn by Muslim women in the presence of adult males outside of their immediate family, which usually covers the head and chest.

and then he would go on with what he was saying. Definitions belong in the appendix.

The material in this book was far more shocking than Plot to Hack America, yet, it underplayed and made boring all of that material. It was so interesting how ISIS recruits its members. It was shocking that many very deadly and notable members grew up in other countries and were formerly part of other religions. It made me wonder whether strong belief - be it Christian, Muslim, or any strong belief - is the real root of the problem. It was also extremely interesting how some actions, which were supposed to stop groups like ISIS, actually ended up helping form and maintain ISIS. Trying to identify, locate, and get rid of dangerous groups is a very difficult job. I surely would not want to be the person in charge of it. But this book did not do enough to discuss any of that. It brought all of that up, but then kept shoving random facts into the discussion, having the result of bogging down every discussion with encyclopedic information.

In Plot to Hack America, Nance was able to convey a shocking amount of fact in an extremely relatable and captivating way. I could not believe the writer who wrote that book was the same one to have written this.

In order to be a more informed citizen, I am going to have to continue to look for a book on ISIS.

[Joy Lawrance]

This is quite a reference book on the subject of ISIS. Nance details every place in the world where ISIS has a cell, he names all the leaders of each group. Aside from a historical perspective on HOW and WHY we have ISIS now, he explains how they recruit, how they work, how they get their weapons, and details their methods of extermination. Brutal - yes. Helpful to understand - yes. He also offers what he believes are the only ways they can be fought and defeated. Sobering indeed.

[Петър Панчев · Rating 4 out of 5]

В Книжен Петър: Тероризмът – мисия към смъртта
(Цялото ревю е тук: https://knijenpetar.wordpress.com/201...)

От няколко месеца започнаха да се появяват книги-изследвания, търсещи причините за бума от терористични актове и най-вече за раждането на терористичната организация ИДИЛ, която направи немислимото – за��ладя чужди територии и се самообяви за държава – „Ислямска държава“. Тепърва ще се появяват все повече и по-мащабни изследвания, поради простата причина, че ИДИЛ продължава да съществува и към ден днешен и информационния поток не е пресъхнал. Въпросът е доколко всички тези текстове могат да се приемат за обективни, когато става въпрос за продължаващо събитие. Първо, защото все още нямаме победител в конфликта между ИДИЛ и Западния свят, второ, защото са намесени много политически интереси, и трето, защото изследователите са лишени от тонове секретни военни документи, които да докажат съществуването на определени събития, свързани с мисиите и тактиките на враждуващите страни. Въпреки това всички ние имаме достатъчно „видимост“, така да го кажа, чрез атентатите, резултатите от ответните удари, изказванията на политическите лидери и най-вече излъченото по медиите, не всички от които обаче са достатъчно надеждни и обективни. Средата, в която получаваме информация, е обществена, т.е. всеки може да сподели своята лична представа за случващото се по света по много лесен начин и да повлияе на общественото мнение. Книгите-изследвания, за които говоря, са също такива медии. За разлика от повечето информационни потоци, те са писани от експерти по антитероризъм и арабисти, които могат по-добре да систематизират информацията и да дадат професионалното си мнение. Известен риск за обективността има при ползването на информация от съмнителни източници, политическите пристрастия на авторите и личните им изводи, които няма как да не станат част от книгите им. При Малкълм Нанс, примерно, си личи обвинителния тон към Джордж Буш за грешните му стратегии в Близкия изток, като дори е посочен за косвен виновник за създаването на чудовището ИДИЛ. Но аз съм просто страничен наблюдател и държа да задоволя любопитството си. Набелязах си две от книгите за ИДИЛ, едната от които вече прочетох – „ИДИЛ. Кои са те, как се сражават, в какво вярват“ („Millenium“, 2016, с превод на Константин Цанков). Да видим сега за какво става дума в нея.
(Продължава в блога: https://knijenpetar.wordpress.com/201...)

[Chris Steeden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – ISIS or ‘the caliphate of the Islamic State’. The author details the strategy, tactics, internal organization, weapons and techniques used by them.

The foreword is by Richard Engel:
‘ISIS is a cult that wants to transform Islam at gunpoint…ISIS has deep roots, stretching back to the earliest days of Islamic history. America’s War on Terror created a new breed of vicious terrorists who wear the mask of Islam.”

In June 2014 the Iraqi-based terrorist group called the Islamic State for Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) stormed across Iraq and Syria and bore down towards the gates of Baghdad. They took large swathes of eastern Syria as well as northern and western Iraq. The Syria offensives occurred in 2012 and 2013. By early 2014 the campaign in Iraq commenced. The Iraqi army collapsed and ISIS captured billions of dollars’ worth of American-supplied weapons. They claimed oilfields and tens of millions of dollars from banks.

They seized the cities of Mosul, Tikrit, Qaeim, Fallujah and Ramadi they revelled in mass beheadings, crucifixions, rapes and summary executions. Its parent is al-Qaeda but unlike its parent they were not going to wait for the local Muslims to accept their beliefs they were going to take the Middle East by storm.

It was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that declared the formation of an “Islamic State” and gave himself the title “Caliph Ibrahim”. He told the world that this was the only legitimate Muslim nation of earth and that the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims were told to answer only to ISIS’s commands and to emigrate to Iraq and Syria as citizens of the new Islamic Caliphate.

I learnt a lot from this book but I would say it could be a lot tighter, meaning better editing. There is a lot of information here to plough through some of it extraordinarily interesting but other sections are just information that you wade through. Its not a scholarly tome at all and can be read and understood by anyone.

I remember Obama calling ISIS a death cult and I thought this was an odd way to describe them but this book explains why he was right to say that.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defeating Isis, by Malcolm Nance full of little details and broad ideas, even down to costs of individual vehicles & weapons captured and re-purposed by Isis, it's leaders some of their profiles and fundamental Islamist rawness the so called "radical's", strategies and tactics of Isis. Then ways Malcolm believes to defeat them, many have been implemented but by others whom many have in abundance a common sense no nonsense work rounds to defeating Isis, others without & quickly shuffled of the playing board some not fast enough. Anyway I found it interesting I've got the eBook version. Learned how before Isis who without no borders and groups prepared for violence how these were spread out and when some decided to band together & stood up to try and begin a state on their beliefs trying to reveal "last day prophecies" as in the bible's Revelation it was asymmetric & successful to start off with but it has deteriorated and now with their virtual defeat they will go back to asymmetric warfare yet again. The west applies symmetrical warfare & keeps learning by repeating the same mistakes multiple times before finding a solution, the west are still in the multiple stage, & no success yet, imho.

[Thomas Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is essentially an ISIS handbook that explains the organization's history, organization and objectives. As a reference work, it is informative but not great reading.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most in-depth book on Daesh (ISIS) I've read to date. It covers a lot more than we read or hear from the talking heads on Fox or CNN. So much, that you might need therapy after reading it. From Daesh's similarity to a previous cult in Middle Eastern history to the atrocities they commit to gain attention, to the misuse of the Koran to justify sinking to the lowest depths humanity can descend. Some of their religious views may be surprising, but most are an abomination to all religious people.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

Knowing ourselves, the next step is knowing the enemy. This book is a good step to accomplishing that. Not a book for the squeamish!

Available at most libraries (Atlanta-Fulton County for sure)

[Al Lock · Rating 2 out of 5]

At best, this book is a kind of snapshot of ISIS from 2014 to 2016. Of course, by the end of 2019, ISIS was basically no more, destroyed by a variety of forces, to include American and Russian, Kurds, Syrians, Iranians, Iraqis, Hammas and Israelis - all working to eradicate ISIS.

Nance points out how ISIS sort of grew out of Al-Queda and focused on being a more conventional force (despite his claim that ISIS fights using unconventional warfare, they really don't). It is common theory that a UW force must at some point turn to conventional tactics/use of force in order to gain final victory. IF that is what ISIS was an attempt at, it was mistimed, to say the least. A conventional force requires logistical support that is visible/trackable, it holds land, it can be fixed and killed - and that is what happened to ISIS.

That ISIS could manage to be such a pain in the ass/threat that all these different groups felt that they needed to be eliminated, each for their own reason? Says a lot about how well ISIS did at alienating just about everybody and creating LOTS of enemies.

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pleasant surprise! I'm not a fan of modern Malcom Nance as the all-knowing military expert (especially on Ukraine), but he knows his stuff on ISIS/jihadists. Comprehensive, detailed, thoroughly researched, it really covers the topic well.

It's light on hyperbole (impressive for an anti-ISIS book) and extensively researched. The knowledge of terrorist history, Islam, jihadism, Syrian/Iraqi geopolitics, tactics, military equipment, financing, social media, etc., is all excellent. There are plenty of surprising topics like medical care within the Islamic State.

If you want a single volume on ISIS, this is a good one. Most will be a straightforward history with a list of atrocities, this is much more with some moderately plausible strategies at the end. The book was published before the fall of Raqqa and the death of Baghdadi, but not too much is lost.

[Judi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to learn about Isis, its roots, its mission....the author Malcolm Nance is a walking encyclopedia! Although this book is very detailed and rather 'dry', it is informative and thought-provoking. In this book you learn about the 'cult' of ISIS and how it has twisted the Qu'ran to its own mission. It provides context to what we hear daily on the news, as well as comparisons to other cult groups throughout history. Although it does take patience to get through it, I recommend it for its insights into one of the most dangerous groups we have seen. He talks about recruitment, operational techniques, finances, and so much more in disturbing detail. I highly recommend it.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I slogged through this book, and while it’s highly relevant, it’s much more of a reference book than an engaging read. It’s also riddled with typos. While certainly the need to get the information is great, it doesn’t seem like it was edited at all before it hit shelves.

That said, it’s a very intelligent and thoughtful treatise on the history of ISIS, how they operate, and what Mr. Nance believes is the best way to bring an end to them. An importantly read, and particularly the final section. A worth while read and a great reference book, but if you are looking for something more along the lines of historical literature, I recommend you look into another book.

[Malola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nance is very clever, one can easily tell. I've watched him a couple of times in Bill Maher's show, and I still surprised how acknowledgeable she is about Middle East.
The book was interesting, but I had trouble following along. I think it's because I'm so ignorant on the issue that the names of people and places were difficult to remember.

[Pam Hobday · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book for our ok club to choose. It was a historical intellectual journey for all of us. Our discussion was one of the most politically charged and poignant in the last 10 years given the current political landscape

[Turgut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty much Americans created Al Qaeda, and the British created ISIS to expel America from the Middle East. The “caliphate” would rule the Islamic world, and the British would rule the “caliphate”, classic British method. Worth reading.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Malcolm Nancy’s take on something. I enjoyed his viewpoints on this book, but give it a four star rating because it had the most typos I’ve ever seen in a published book. They had to have cut corners to get it out quickly. Difficult to read because of that.

[Jackson Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry, repetitive and reaeds more like a military debriefing. Read through until "Isis in Canada." Malcolm is informative on the scope and depth of Isis' destruction, history, and philosophy, but in the most roundabout and bland way.

[Susen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read or listen to this book.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information but it's not a very readable format. After struggling to get myself to continue it, I'm stopping. Maybe someday I'll come back and work on it some more.

[Chris Davenport · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly succinct and in-depth breakdown of the who, why, and how of the cult of ISIS. Malcolm Nance spares almost no detail.

[Kdcontorno · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good statistical read

Statistical read of Isis history, information on leaders/members, listing by country of membership numbers, deaths, how many have returned home.

[Clint T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and covered who, what, when, where, why. So many moving parts, difficult to retain the wealth of facts, well worth the time invested.

[Ronald Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe, is a meticulously researched guide on one of the most brutal terrorist groups of our age. The author, Malcolm Nance, is a counterterrorism expert with years of experience combating what he refers to as death cults with a twisted, corrupted interpretation of Islam. In fact, he goes so far as to assert that groups like ISIS are anti-Islamic, that their actions are profoundly contrary to traditional Islam. Nance provides a thorough overview of ISIS's origins, and in doing so pulls no punches. He stresses that there would be no ISIS if the United States had not invaded Iraq. During U.S operations in Iraq, ISIS started out as Al Quaeda in Iraq. The U.S. invasion handed Osama bin Laden a golden opportunity. The invasion of Iraq opened up a new front in a fledgling Al Quaeda's war against the U.S. It turned an entire country into a Jihadist playground, attracting foreign fighters, hopped up on Jihadist ideology, from around the world. This, according to Nance, was Osama bin Laden's primary goal. American occupation of a Muslim nation fulfilled his desire to pit Jihadists against Western troops, while drawing the Muslim world into Al Quaeda's camp.

Al Quaeda received far less support from Muslims than it had anticipated. Instead, an Al Quaeda on steroids, called ISIS took shape in the searing crucible of Iraq. In his coverage of ISIS, Nance includes affiliate groups that placed themselves under the ISIS banner: Boko Haram being one of the most notorious examples. He provides a detailed analysis of ISIS's every aspect: military capability, operations, weaponry, finances, media, command structure, etc. ISIS atrocities are examined in full, disturbing detail. Nance explains how, despite its unfettered savagery, ISIS continues to attract recruits. Certainly, the group draws those who wish to live in an idealized Islamic society, a Caliphate. But psychopaths, attracted to the prospect of immense bloodletting also manage to find themselves in ISIS occupied territory.

Nance makes it clear that formidable as ISIS has been, it can be defeated. His playbook for eradicating the organization is a detailed step by step process. He acknowledges that ISIS has been a dealt heavy blow in the current U.S. led effort, but outlines a strategy that could inflict much greater damage. It is a strategy entailing deep cover operations, disrupting enemy supply lines and the implementation of general all out mayhem designed to send ISIS reeling off balance, snatching it out of its usual offensive mindset and putting it squarely on the defensive. The strategy is every bit as ruthless as the enemy it is set against.

Nance's analysis of ISIS comprises the strongest parts of the book. His military experience as well as extensive terrorism-counterterrorism knowledge injects his presentation with a powerful does of credibility. But he treads shaky ground when he touches upon history. He rightly points out ISIS's sheer bloody-mindedness, but seems to suggest that its violence is anomalous to Islamic history. The expansion of Islam in history, from the Umayyads to the Ottomans, was often accompanied by the same abhorrent methods ISIS employs today: massacres, enslavement, aggressive warfare, the deaths and subjugation of non-believers and so-called apostates, the wholesale destruction and desecration of non-Islamic sites, and the brutal repression of Muslims not in alignment with ISIS's strict Salafist interpretation of Islam.

Currently, Muslim imperialism is no longer a state enterprise. Instead, current imperialist impulses are manifested in non-state entities such as ISIS and Al Quaeda. These group have grand aspirations but not nearly the capability to impose the type of dominance over vast territories that the great Muslim empires of the past possessed. Other than that historical misstep, Defeating ISIS is an engrossing read as well as a authoritative guide book that should be pored over by Pentagon generals...if they aren't doing so already.

[Larry Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good over view

Good overview. I think the first part of the book could have been done in table form and saved a lot of e-trees. But, once you get past that part of the book, I very interesting read.

[Johnny · Rating 1 out of 5]

Astonishingly awful book. I have never read anything so poorly edited in my entire life. The book was filled with grammatical errors, typos, and general laziness in writing. Most of these errors were of the most basic nature, from missing punctuation, to incomplete sentences, to even repeating words back-to-back like "the the". It was really amazing to see this carelessness repeated throughout the entire book.

The book's intermittent pictures and graphical inserts were often irrelevant to the content written on that page, and at points it seemed that the pictures, often inserted without any explanation, were simply there to take up space. There was no rhyme or reason to any of the sub-headings throughout the book, and the content within those sub-headings rarely connected to the heading itself. Additionally, the author clearly has very little understanding of how the military works, as exemplified through his repeated use of incorrect acronyms, poor terminology to explain military tactics, and also by key omissions of significant military operations. No where in this book does he mention the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, the military command established to actually fight ISIS. This is something I would have expected to see in a book called "Defeating ISIS."

Overall, it reads like a hastily compiled list of data with minimal or incomplete explanations linking it all together. The book lacks an all encompassing "so what" factor that leaves the reader with a list of numbers but no real explanation for why it all matters.

I will definitely never read anything from Malcolm Nance again and I would not recommend this book to anyone.

[George Hodgson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this book a better rating, but it could stand more proofing. In terms of content, it is quite a well informed, well researched look at the most terrifying terrorist group operating in the world today. His overarching view that ISIS is not mainstream or even radical Islam, but is a cult. It is a cult that is a threat to the world; to Israel; and to the stability of the Middle East. It though most of all is a threat to Islam. Defeating it will not be accomplished using traditional military tactics or merely by bombing the s**t out of them. It will be accomplished by non traditional asymmetric military tactics and by doing it in order to protect Islam. This is a book, along with others, needs to be read by public officials who are or will be tasked with defeating this scourge. It is also a very good reference material for those who want to know the structure of ISIS as well as statistics.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who had little knowledge about ISIS, this book was overwhelming. There are chapters with so much detail that I began to wonder if I was the proper audience for it, such as every region with known ISIS operations, the names of their high-ranking leaders, their position in the group, etc.

However, there are large chunks of the text that are immensely informative and downright interesting. If you can stomach the length and you want to learn about ISIS, this is hands down the best single volume to give you all you want to know, and then some.

Lastly, Malcolm Nance has many years behind him serving in the military and intelligence community. His insight is unique, and I would pay particular attention to his proposed countermeasures. Nance is a talented scholar with a palpable poetic side.

[Jemma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good outline of how ISIS came about, how they operate and how to defeat them. At times it does read like ISIS Top Trumps, with lots of facts collected and presented without much preamble. This is probably because Nance worked at the Pentagon and you can easily imagine much of this book as slides at various presentations. Indeed, Nance's Pentagon pedigree is one of the aspects which makes this a book to read on this highly important subject.

Nance will leave you feeling that there is a solution, if just Congress can be convinced to vote the money - sadly, the Republicans are not playing ball and refusing to cooperate. So much for all their rhetoric about ISIS.

[Jaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a soldier or an intelligence operative, so I can't judge the author's credentials. He seems to know what he's talking about, but the material is so dry. There's a lot of technical information here, about the ISIL organization and their weapons, but not a lot about how to really defeat them. There seem to be a lot of "if money was no object" ideas, but not much that seems really practical.