Under the Black Flag

'Sami Moubayed has written a must-read book. As a Syrian historian, Moubayed astutely explores the rise of the Islamic State first by tracking the historical origins of its ideology. He then smoothly takes the reader to the vivid details of life on the ground to explain how ISIS grew and established its so-called state. It is a perfect way to elucidate this complex phenomenon.' - Hassan Hassan, author of ISIS: Inside the New Army of Terror; 'Sami Moubayed's new book on ISIS is a great read. It is the best introduction to ISIS so far. He neither looses the reader in a cascade of foreign names nor overwhelms them with detail. What Moubayed does do with consummate skill is provide essential background and history to understand why Syria fell apart and where ISIS came from. Sami is the premier Syrian historian of his generation writing in English. He comes from an illustrious Damascene Sunni family and continues to live much of the year in Damascus, which gives him a unique and valuable perspective on events unfolding in his region.' - Joshua Landis, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, author of "Syria Comment" and past President of the Syrian Studies Association; 'Under the Black Flag is particularly good on the blood-soaked history of relations between Islamists and Ba'athists in Syria before 2011, thus helping us to understand why that country's Arab Spring so quickly morphed into a brutal, sectarian jihad.' - Edward Mortimer, Financial Times; 'Moubayed's insider account brings to bear the experience of two decades of analysing Syria and the Middle East.' - Justin Marozzi, The National; 'Moubayed's books goes straight to the front of the queue as an excellent account of the wider politics that has created the conditions in which ISIS has flourished...Moubayed should be congratulated for breadth and scope of his interviews and research. He's put together a must-read on this all too topical and under-researched subject.' - James Denselow, Huffington Post; 'reveals the horrifying, and fascinating, details of daily life under Isis...deeply revealing...Moubayed details all of Isis's cruel and inhuman punishments and executions - war crimes indeed - but is intent on placing them in the context of a very bloody history.' - Robert Fisk, Independent