"Quite simply, the best Western journalist at work in Iraq today." Seymour M Hersh "Amid the many books published on the current conflicts reshaping the Middle East, few are as informative or perceptive." Observer (Praise for The Rise of Islamic State) "Accessible ... Cockburn, an experienced Mideast journalist, offers revealing anecdotes on the decrepit state of the Iraqi Army and the sluggish and brutal military stalemate in Syria ... Cockburn describes a continuing tragedy in which hubris and optimism destroyed a seemingly promising revolution" New York Times (Praise for The Rise of Islamic State) "A compelling series of dispatches from a journalist who has learned the hard golden rule in Iraq: 'to forecast the worst possible outcome.'"- Kirkuk Reviews "It is a brilliant tour d'horizon of the new wars, a chronicle compiled from despatches, notes and diaries. No one could be better placed for this task and no one else could have produced such a lucid and comprehensive account." - Robert Fox, Evening Standard "His reports coalesce here, giving life and shape to the forces of terror currently shaping the region and beyond. The book serves as a strong argument for sharpening the mind of each and every politician responsible for the continuing calamity" - GQ "Likely to be a reference for future scholars. Cockburn's dispatches make for a somber, vivid, and gripping work of eyewitness history." - Publishers Weekly "A fine and courageous journalist, who has displayed a sustained commitment to laying bare the tribulations of the Middle East...This book confirms Cockburn's reputation as a reporter and analyst." - Max Hastings, Sunday Times "This book is required reading for anyone who wants to try to understand the disaster. It should be compulsory reading for politicians, diplomats, defence chiefs and the academic think-tanks whose members make confident predictions, usually confounded by what follows." - Allan Massie, Scotsman "A meticulous and blistering condemnation of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East" - Macleans "Cockburn wears his opinions on his sleeve-informed opinions, that project an aura of the New (now oldish) Left-so you can get an honest take on his perspective. That perspective can be dizzying, both panoptic and intimate." - Peter Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle