The Caravan
Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad

Traces Abdallah Azzam's path from a West Bank village to the battlefields of Afghanistan and explains why jihadism went global.

Thomas Hegghammer (Author)

9780521765954, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 5 March 2020

718 pages, 26 b/w illus. 4 maps
23.6 x 16 x 3.9 cm, 1.27 kg

'The Caravan – Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad is an important addition to the scholarship of jihadism and political Islam. It is not a dry academic text; it's simply a good read for anyone interested in some of the most significant developments in modern history. Hegghammer's panoramic view of jihadism makes this book a vital resource for anyone seeking to further understand the development of jihadism.' Ilan Fuchs, AMU Edge

Abdallah Azzam, the Palestinian cleric who led the mobilization of Arab fighters to Afghanistan in the 1980s, played a crucial role in the internationalization of the jihadi movement. Killed in mysterious circumstances in 1989 in Peshawar, Pakistan, he remains one of the most influential jihadi ideologues of all time. Here, in the first in-depth biography of Azzam, Thomas Hegghammer explains how Azzam came to play this role and why jihadism went global at this particular time. It traces Azzam's extraordinary life journey from a West Bank village to the battlefields of Afghanistan, telling the story of a man who knew all the leading Islamists of his time and frequented presidents, CIA agents, and Cat Stevens the pop star. It is, however, also a story of displacement, exclusion, and repression that suggests that jihadism went global for fundamentally local reasons.

Introduction
Prologue
1. Palestinian
2. Brother
3. Fighter
4. Scholar
5. Vagabond
6. Writer
7. Pioneer
8. Diplomat
9. Manager
10. Recruiter
11. Ideologue
12. Mujahid
13. Resident
14. Enemy
15. Martyr
16. Icon
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Islamic studies [JFSR2], Islam [HRH], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]