The biography of a monster.
The story of the life of one of the cruelest criminals of our time and a fundamental study of world terrorism.
Abu Musab az-Zarqawi is one of the most dangerous, ruthless, and influential terrorist leaders of our era. One of Osama bin Laden’s associates and the head of the Iraqi group “Ansar al-Islam,” whose black flag became firmly associated with the most horrifying attacks by religious fanatics—and which continues the war in Syria to this day. A reward of 25 million US dollars was offered for his capture, and his terror-shares kept even the most convinced jihadists at bay. The life of this man, who had a hand in the activity of the most notorious terrorist organizations of our time, has always been surrounded by legends and conjectures. To separate fact from fiction, Pulitzer Prize laureate Joby Warrick conducted a colossal investigation and gathered a vast amount of information about the origins and philosophy of terrorism—about Shia and Sunni, blood feuds, and the characteristics of Middle Eastern political systems.