Tens of thousands of men and women have left comfortable, privileged lives to join the Islamic State and kill for it. To them, its violence is beautiful and holy, and the caliphate a fulfillment of prophecy and the only place on earth where they can live and die as Muslims.
The new book - The Way of the Strangers - is an intimate journey into the minds of the Islamic State’s true believers. From the streets of Cairo to the mosques of London, Journalist Graeme Wood interviews supporters, recruiters, and sympathizers of the group.
Through character study and analysis, Wood provides a look at a movement that has inspired so many people to abandon or uproot their families. Many seek death—and they will be the terror threat of the next decade, as they strike back against the countries fighting their caliphate.
Graeme Wood is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and he teaches in the political science department at Yale University. His new book is: The Way of the Strangers.