Black Flags

Black Flags by Joby Warrick offers a gripping and insightful account of the rise of ISIS, one of the most formidable terrorist organisations in modern history. This masterful work weaves a dramatic narrative that traces militant Islam's roots and evolution, culminating in the ascendance of the Islamic State. Warrick's narrative begins in a remote Jordanian prison, where a seemingly inconsequential amnesty for political prisoners in 1999 proved to be a fateful error, allowing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist mastermind, to sow the seeds of an extremist ideology that would grow to threaten global security.

WINNER of the PULITZER PRIZE for NON-FICTION 2016

Warrick provides an unparalleled, character-driven account that uncovers the personal and political machinations that enabled ISIS to spread its influence. At the heart of this account is Zarqawi, whose journey from prison inmate to the architect of a ruthless Islamist movement is recounted with chilling detail. Operating initially from a base in northern Iraq, Zarqawi's aspirations were dramatically amplified by the 2003 allied invasion. The West's misguided portrayal of Zarqawi as the crucial link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden inadvertently fortified his stature, galvanising radicals worldwide to join his cause.

The book reveals how the coalition forces' strategic mishaps enabled Zarqawi and his followers to launch a terrifying wave of brutal beheadings and suicide bombings. Although Zarqawi was eventually killed in a targeted airstrike in 2006, his movement lived on, rebranding themselves initially as al-Qaeda in Iraq and later evolving into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This transformation was fuelled by instability and power vacuums along the Iraq-Syria border, which were exacerbated by the Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011. As global attention wavered, ISIS seized the moment to pursue Zarqawi's unyielding vision of an ultra-conservative Islamic caliphate.

Drawing on exclusive access to high-level intelligence sources, Warrick's narrative is enriched with gripping operational details and the strategic perspectives of key players including diplomats, spies, generals, and heads of state. Many of these figures attempted, often in vain, to curtail the burgeoning threat that they foresaw as potentially more menacing than al-Qaeda.

Black Flags thus stands as a definitive history of one of today's most perilous extremist threats. By combining meticulously researched historical detail with the compelling storytelling of a seasoned journalist, Joby Warrick delivers a vital and powerful chronicle of ISIS's rise and the continual global struggle to counter its influence.