HAMAS
The Quest For Power

Fairly comprehensive and even-handed overview of the emergence of Hamas and the basis by which they steadily became a genuinely popular vehicle for discontent and ,more recently, nation-building in Gaza. Loses a star for using the term "bromance" to describe intragroup alliances within the Palestini......more

This is not the first book you should jump to if you've never read a book on the Israel-Palestine conflict, because it will only obliquely elude to in passing the planned ethnic cleansing by even early Israeli governments that Ilan Pappé's The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine will, or just how skewed t......more

’Hamas is an idea. You cannot bomb an idea out of existence,’ said Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s deputy prime minister. ‘If you are not happy with what Hamas is doing, convince the Palestinian people that they have a future and that Hamas is standing between them and that future. Thus far, that argument......more

Overall a very detailed and insightful account of Hamas’s ideological roots as an Islamist resistance group that does much to dispel the image many Westerners have of of Islamist militant resistance groups like Hamas and Hezbollah as “terrorists” (akin to al-Qaeda or ISIS). Full of well-sourced deta......more

Comprehensive and analytical, this book gives a facts-driven overview of Hamas, its history, and its goals and aspirations. It’s very up to date - with analysis running into 2024, although much has changed since the start of the year. It’s not a perfect book - the structure is a little confusing at......more