"Drawing on troves of recently declassified documents captured from the Islamic State and its predecessors, counterterrorism expert Brian Fishman tells the story of this organization's complex and largely hidden past.- and what the master plan suggests about its future. Only by understanding the Islamic State's full history- and the strategy that drove it- can we understand the contradictions that may ultimately tear it apart" -- Dust jacket.

Prologue: The Kandahar Meeting --1. The Awakening Stage (2000-2003) -- 2. The Eye-Opening Stage (2003-2006) -- 3. The Stage of Standing Upright (2007-2010) -- 4. The Stage of Recuperation (2010-2013) -- 5. The Stage of Declaring the State (2013-2016) -- The Stage of Absolute Confrontation (2016-2018) -- 7. The Stage of Final Victory (2018-2020).