Anthony Tucker-Jones is only too familiar with the modern architects of terror. For the past decade and a half he has worked as the terrorism and security correspondent for the highly respected intersec – The Journal of International Security. During that time he has written extensively on al Qaeda and Daesh. This book draws on his experience to assess Islamic State’s brutal Holy War that has brought terror and mayhem to the four corners of the globe.

The emergence of terror group Islamic State, or Daesh, has created one of the greatest threats to global security in the twenty-first century. Spawned from the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, it carved out an Islamic caliphate straddling both failed countries. Since then it has wantonly despoiled world heritage sites, engaged in regional genocide and conducted regular terror attacks against capital cities across the world, killing irrespective of race, colour, creed, gender or age.

Like its predecessor, al Qaeda, Daesh’s most potent and insidious weapon is franchise terrorism. It has inspired clutches of deadly wannabee terrorists who have carried out a wave of what can be best described as war crimes, killing innocent civilians. In this perceptive assessment Tucker-Jones highlights how the West has become caught up in what is essentially a civil war between Shia and Sunni Islam, with deadly results.