I read this in Pakistan, over a period of weeks shortly after the 9/11 attacks. Its sweep across the broad landscape of radical Sunni activism was a revelation. The book is one of the few genuinely rigorous academic overviews of the social and historical roots of the phenomenon of modern Muslim extremism ranging geographically from the far east to Europe, and chronologically from the 1960s onwards that also remains readable. Its primary thesis that violent Islamic militancy is in large part a response to the failure of political Islamist activism has stood the test of time. Kepel is famous in France but almost unknown outside. This is a shame. A classic.

Jason Burke, The Guardian

Deeply researched, deeply measured and deeply instructive – the best survey available and likely to remain so

Justin Wintle, Sunday Times

Kepel's work... spans the world of political Islam, from the assassination of Egypt's President Anwar Sadat, to the establishment of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network in Afghanistan. He has the knack of explaining how events in one part of the Islamic world have affected developments elsewhere

Anton La Guardia, The Daily Telegraph

No-one else has attempted so bold an overview of the Islamist phenomenon. Of all the books on this subject, this is the most challenging and the most illuminating

The Economist

Simply excellent

Malise Ruthven, Prospect