With unprecedented access to Islamist activists and leaders across the region, Hamid offers a panoramic and ambitious interpretation of the region's descent into violence. Islamic Exceptionalism is a vital contribution to our understanding of Islam's past and present, and its outsized role in modern politics. We don't have to like it, but we have to understand it - because Islam, as a religion and as an idea, will continue to be a force that shapes not just the region, but the West as well in the decades to come.

Machine generated contents note: -- 1. To Take Joy in a Massacre -- 2. Is Islam "Exceptional"? -- 3. Islam's Reformation -- 4. The Muslim Brotherhood: From Reform to Revolution -- 5. The Turkish Model: Islamists Empowered -- 6. Tunisia: Islamists Conceding Their Islamism -- 7. ISIS: After the State Fails -- 8. Islam, Liberalism, and the State: A Way Out?.