United States of Jihad

Selected for the Washington Post 's Notable Nonfiction List, 2016 A New York Times Editors' Choice Mr. Bergen writes with authority and range... His profiles of jihadists... leave the reader with a harrowing appreciation of the banality of evil and an unnerving sense of missteps made by the authorities... Mr. Bergen's detailed accounts of terror plots (both executed, foiled or failed) make for chilling reading. - MICHIKO KAKUTANI , NEW YORK TIMES Excellent... Bergen's book is the best one-volume treatment available on the current state of jihad in America. - JANET NAPOLITANO, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Peter Bergen is a skilled and sensitive reporter with unparalleled access to the law-enforcement and intelligence communities... He has written what in effect are two books about terrorism. Both are valuable. One is a riveting, thoroughly researched account of the evolving state of the threat as a growing number of American citizens join the ranks of foreign terrorist movements-and of how U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement agencies are addressing the constantly shifting threat. The other is a skilled defense of... the Obama administration's anti-terror effort: one that attempts to steer between the perceived extremes of panicky overreaction and a failure to acknowledge how politically and socially devastating terror attacks can be. - WALTER RUSSELL MEAD , WALL STREET JOURNAL Peter Bergen... one of America's most prominent terrorism experts, makes a compelling and often unsettling case that, in the years since Sept. 11, 2001, Islamist terrorism in the United States has metamorphosed... The transformation of domestic jihadism has not only dispersed the Islamist terrorist threat but in a perverse process of cultural intermingling has partly Americanized jihad itself. The 'soft power' appeal of American culture is often considered to be one of this country's most enduring assets, but the new admixture of jihadi terror and pop culture savoir faire potentially turns this idea on its head... Bergen takes a generally skeptical view of the growth of the post-9/11 national security state and of the fear-mongering about Islam that has increasingly transfixed the darker crannies of American politics. This skepticism, I think, is not only strategically and morally sound but also borne out by the facts. - LOS ANGELES TIMES There's drama in the cases Bergen relates... He makes a highly reliable guide on the road to the present day. - KARL VICK , TIME MAGAZINE A crisply methodical detailing of the types of people and attacks involved in Islam-inspired terrorism here and abroad... Bergen knows his topic extremely well. -USA TODAY Disturbing and topical... [ United States of Jihad ] is an engrossing and edifying book... It is to Bergen's immense credit that, without downplaying the threat of Islamist terrorism-home-grown or directed at America by groups abroad-he refrains from overstating it and attempts to maintain perspective... The author deserves kudos for simultaneously recognizing the potential of secular Muslims-who are too often ignored-to change people's attitudes. -BOSTON GLOBE Bergen pulls you in with snappy, conversational writing... exploding some of the easy assumptions about jihadists in the United States. - WASHINGTON POST Bergen, who has interviewed convicted terrorists, their families and friends and people working across the counterterrorism profession, is the most sober guide to the subject one could hope for....But Bergen also has an eye for the human factor, which makes this book, for all its horror, humane. 'Jihadization' is usually a great blow to the families of the person involved, and Bergen presents poignant family portraits. - THE GLOBE AND MAIL Gripping... There is much to commend in Mr. Bergen's important book. Readers will benefit from his astute observations, based on numerous case studies... [Mr. Bergen] offers a sobering assessment that sho