Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists

Certainly the most humanistic reading I have done on the subject of Islamic Terrorism. I now have a more accurate picture of the types of people who become involved and in what actually motivates their actions. Parts of the book are a bit tedious because he does put in some information, I believe, just for the record. And, still, for the most part I found it very interesting and easy reading. It doesn't really provide any actual process or system for 'unmaking' terrorism but It helps to give us an understanding on which perhaps some movement can be made. Any progress is good. As a spiritual reader I also read this book with the aim of understanding better, the psychology, and religiosity, of actual ordinary Muslims. The book discusses the religious aspects throughout the book with an unusually non-biased viewpoint. I was about halfway through reading when the author reveals himself to be an atheist. He has to be one of the most open minded atheists I have ever come across. (Though even he couldn't resist a few cute digs). I do applaud the author for his thoroughness and scholarship. This book in size looks huge but a great deal of the last part is taken up with an index of the names of individuals mentioned, and by the Note section.

If you think this is a sophomoric book, then your correct if you talk about university level sophomores.For people like me who want the facts, check out this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573317608/The book in itself can be tedious if your not used to academic writing styles.But it is also a learning experience, which will let you have a more detailed view about terrorists.Usually highly rational progressive people can resort to conservative FUD when debating alternative Mohamedic religions.Scott Atran is one of the few people who can distinguish Muslims, and provide a quantized set of characteristics for the subset Muslims that resort to terroristic acts. Based on his anthropological research, threat indicators can be a lot more effective.It was quite a paradigm shift, when you only hear the rethoric on cable news or the internet.

Some things should be explained in a few paragraphs instead of many pages. Should I need to know more about the history of Islam or psychology of a group, I'd look for it in other books. The author calls Islamic terrorists doomsday cult, and rightly so. They are a perversion of Islam, but to pervert Islam one has to start with Islam.

Hoping to better understand the allure of terrorism, especially explosive self sacrifice, for young Muslims. Heard an interview with Scott Atran and ordered his book. This is the best explanation why they do what they do that I've seen, because he actually walked among them and interviewed them.

Intense, informative, intriguing. Well reasoned-out. Strong logic. Some of the take-it-for-granted-to-be-true statements would have been better served if there had been a bit more documentation of the dogmatic writing in spots. But a must-read for anyone who needs to understand extremism - and that is all of us.

Okay, he knows a lot about terrorists and terrorism. He's also a pretty brave guy, in my book. But, I never found any deep insight that impressed me and I didn't get it to read histories of these groups, which is mostly what it is.

To be toally honest here, I have not read this book yet. But, I will. I have always felt it best to walk in other shoes before you made a opinion, and with this book, that is my plans.

For those who want to skip the 24hr news cycle and learn what are some driving forces in Global Jihad

Too often we see people in the media commenting on terrorism and radicalization without any real experience studying it.Firstly Atran differentiates between Islamism/fundamentalism and terrorism and radicalism.He goes through the process and mindset, process behind radicalization.One of the few books of it's kind, and I am sad the Daily Show is more likely to have Sam Harris come on and spout garbage instead of Scott Atran who actually studied the topic of terrorism and radicalization.

I really appreciate the in depth study of the cultural prejudices most hold today and how clearly Mr. Atran shows us all how little we really know about the so called "enemy". This book does need to be read with an open mind - not a simple task for most. Thank you for a wonderful education on this topic, Mr. Atran! I loved this book!

I found this book to be very enlightening. Essential reading if you have any pretensions to understand the motives behind these attacks.