'A groundbreaking study a masterclass in how to do intellectual history & one that nobody with an interest in radical Islam should miss' Tom Holland New Statesman' Readers looking for a rigorous but lucid account of Islamic State's ideas will be well-served by Maher's book the first of its kind' Kyle W Orton Wall Street Journal No topic has gripped the public imagination so dramatically as the spectre of global jihadism While much has been said about the way jihadists behave their ideology remains poorly understood Shiraz Maher charts the intellectual underpinnings of salafi-jihadism from its origins in the mountains of the Hindu Kush to the jihadist insurgencies of the 1990s & the 911 wars His ground-breaking introduction to salafi-jihadism recalibrates our understanding of the ideas underpinning one of the most destructive political philosophies of our time' Magisterial Essential reading' Robin Yassin-Kassab The National' Shiraz Maher a leading authority on contemporary Islamic extremism traces the evolution of the key ideas behind one of the most significant religious & political movements of our time Comprehensive important & timely' Jason Burke author of Al-Qaeda 'A work of genuine interest & originality indispensable' David Patrikarakos Literary Review