Bringing the author’s decades of expertise to the complex dialogues that have marked the post-9/11 world, Islamism in the Shadow of al-Qaeda delivers much-needed clarity and historical perspective. In Burgat’s eyes, most of the west’s political and media rhetoric has only fueled al-Qaeda’s case, revealing a woeful lack of comprehension regarding the violent authoritarianism that divides the Middle East and creates a breeding ground for terrorism. Islamism in the Shadow of al-Qaeda provides a primer of the three eras of political Islam, from the 1928 founding of the Muslim Brothers to the rise of post-colonial dictatorships and the growth of radicalism. Offering a new roadmap for stability, Burgat bridges the ideologies— political, religious, and cultural—that must be traversed if the deadly sectarianism is to be superseded. “Burgat’s book delivers the keys to the writings of Azzam, Zawahiri, and bin Laden.” —Le Monde Diplomatique “Unlike his contemporaries, Burgat doesn’t give in to the media-talk that surrounds us. . . . With his immense historic and sociological background, he offers us a complete, panoramic view of that Arabic Other. . . . Few know the Arab Muslim world better than Burgat.” —Politis