Richard Cockett

Where Will It End?

ISIS: A History

By

Princeton University Press 368pp £19.95 order from our bookshop

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

By

Corgi Books 473pp £8.99 order from our bookshop

Blood Year: Islamic State and the Failures of the War on Terror

By

Hurst 288pp £9.99 order from our bookshop

Despite its inordinate length, the very long-awaited Chilcot Inquiry into Britain’s role in the invasion of Iraq, due to be published on 6 July 2016, probably won’t deal with the rise of the terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). If it were to, however, it would conclude that the spread of ISIS was in part provoked by the chaos, instability and civil wars that ensued in Iraq and beyond after the toppling of Saddam Hussein. This was clearly Britain and America’s fault, the consequence of political arrogance and grossly inadequate planning for the postwar period, whatever Tony Blair might say to the contrary after the report’s release. 

Follow Literary Review on Twitter

  • Last Tweets

    • A treat from the LR Archive: exactly 20 years ago, Malcolm Bradbury reviewed John Updike's 'Bech at Bay' ,
    • ‘When bullets come close, the noise they make as they go past changes from a zing to a crack’ John Lanchester's dy… ,
    • Man with a Bloody Paintbrush: Robin Simon on Lucian Freud ,
    • Jane Ridley reviews The Diaries of Kenneth Rose (ed. D R Thorpe) ,
    • ‘Look,’ says Trump. ‘The fact is I’m only human.’ On the evidence of this book that point is debatable. From the A… ,
    • From our December/January issue - here's John Banville's review of Colm Tóibín on the fathers of Wilde, Yeats and J… ,
    • Hi , we would love to review 'Death of the Vazir-Mukhtar' in our next issue! Please could you get in… ,
    Follow Us