In a thrilling dramatic narrative, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Joby Warrick
traces how the strain of militant Islam behind ISIS first arose in a remote Jord
anian prison and spread to become the world's greatest threat. When the governme
nt of Jordan granted amnesty to a group of political prisoners in 1999, it littl
e realized that among them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist mastermind and
soon the architect of an Islamist movement bent on dominating the Middle East. I
n Black Flags, an unprecedented character-driven account of the rise of ISIS, Jo
by Warrick shows how the zeal of this one man and the strategic mistakes of West
ern governments led to the banner of ISIS being raised over huge swathes of Syri
a and Iraq.
