From NYRB, a review of ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan and ISIS: The State of Terror by Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger. Life under the Islamic State: Stories and documents from refugees describing life in the Islamic State’s domain testify to the apparatus of control the group has swiftly constructed across the territory it conquered in Syria and Iraq. Nancy A. Youssef and Shane Harris on the women who secretly keep ISIS running. Ellie Hall on how one young woman went from fundamentalist Christian to ISIS bride. Mia Bloom on six things you need to know about women and ISIS: What ISIS is doing is thinly veiled gang rape. Rape survivor who escaped ISIS discusses torture she was subjected to. James Reinl interviews Zainab Bangura, the UN envoy on sexual violence in conflict, about the latest IS crimes. Tim Arango on how ISIS is transforming into a functioning state that uses terror as a tool. Is the Islamic State actually a state? No, but letting it say so is dangerous. Lawrence Rubin on why the Islamic State won’t become a normal state.
