Shatter the Nations

ISIS and the War for the Caliphate

De: Mike Giglio

Narrado por: Robert Fass

Unflinching dispatches of an embedded war reporter covering ISIS and the unlikely alliance of forces who came together to defeat it.

The battle to defeat ISIS was an unremittingly brutal and dystopian struggle, a multi-sided war of gritty local commandos and militias. Mike Giglio takes readers to the heart of this shifting, uncertain conflict, capturing the essence of a modern war.
At its peak, ISIS controlled a self-styled "caliphate" the size of Great Britain, with a population cast into servitude that numbered in the millions. Its territory spread across Iraq and Syria as its influence stretched throughout the wider world.
Giglio tells the story of the rise of the caliphate and the ramshackle coalition--aided by secretive Western troops and American airstrikes--that was assembled to break it down village by village, district by district. The story moves from the smugglers, traffickers, and jihadis working on the ISIS side to the victims of its zealous persecution and the local soldiers who died by the thousands to defeat it. Amid the battlefield drama, culminating in a climactic showdown in Mosul, is a dazzlingly human portrait of the destructive power of extremism, and of the tenacity and astonishing courage required to defeat it.

Reseñas de la Crítica

A PBS NewsHour recommended book for 2019

"An open wound of a book, as raw and bleeding as the conflict itself."—Rebekah Sanderlin, We Are The Mighty

"Beautifully written...one of the most important reflections on the war to date."
—Murtaza Hussain, the Intercept

"Giglio has written an engaging and valuable account of the battle against the Islamic State and its regional and international effects. He captures, better than most any other author, the gritty, confusing and often cynical nature of this war fought by local actors on behalf of the United States. Readers who embark with Giglio on his harrowing adventures will gain much from his eye for the details that humanize his tale."—Nicholas Heras, the Washington Post

"An important read on the rise of the Islamic State and the West's fight to defeat the militant group, reported from the ground through beautifully captured human portraits."—Lauren Katzenberg's year-end book recommendations for The New York Times At War

"Giglio's writing thrums with the blood pulse of battle...What powers this book more than the chilling accounts of bullets zipping through the air and bombs roaring near and far, however, are the people Giglio encounters and the stories they share. They are the beating heart of this story, and they are truly unforgettable."—Peggy Kurkowski, Open Letters Review

"The book is like a magnet...he takes the reader along with him, into the coffeehouses and smuggling dens, the restaurants and front lines, from Turkey to Iraq and other countries."—Seth Frantzman, the Jerusalem Post

"[A] searing debut...[Giglio's] insights into the 'strange ecosystem' of journalists, hustlers, and fixers that operate on the edges of war zones will be of interest even to readers who've had their fill of battle stories. His warning, meanwhile, that many jihadists and their families escaped ISIS territory before coalition forces moved in takes on frightening new relevance as U.S. troops withdraw from the region. Giglio's probing, prescient narrative illuminates the global repercussions of a murky conflict."—Publishers Weekly

"An excellent and invaluable summation of the complex conflict in the Middle East from 2011-2017, shedding light on the murky circumstances behind so many political soundbites that inadequately cover terrorism and plight of refugees."—Booklist

"Wrenching...a forthright account by an invested journalist unafraid to ask key questions about the many ramifications of the conflict."—Kirkus Reviews

"An epic war story: bravely reported, brilliantly written, shot through with humanity."—Tim Weiner, National Book Award-winning author of Legacy of Ashes

Most important book for the coming decade

I say this not simply for the vast and pervasive nature of ISIS, nor the risks the author took to tell it's story with the truth it deserves, nor even the sublime ease with which he wrote it, but mostly, because it is a story that cannot be heard in its entirety anywhere else.

This book will leave you with a deep sense of the importance of ISIS' origins and the social change that evolved around it, yet a naked helplessness for what it may mean for the future it has not yet finished nudging.

I imagine we will hear more from Mike Giglio, but this book will surely stand out as his defining work.