Katerina Sergatskova is an award-winning journalist, author, entrepreneur, and security trainer specializing in high-risk environments. She extensively reported on the war in Ukraine, Russian invasion, human rights violations in Eastern Europe, and war on the Islamic State in the Middle East.Kate Tsurkan is an award-winning translator, writer, and editor. Her writing and translations have appeared in The New Yorker, Harpers, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and a number of other publications. She is the culture reporter at the Kyiv Independent.

“With first-hand reporting of gripping personal stories, this book traces exactly how the Russian wars in Chechnya steadily fueled the rise of ISIS. Overwhelming military force did not end terrorism. Generational rage, suffering, and dislocation fueled its global spread to Syria, Iraq, and beyond.  Highly recommended.” —Audrey Kurth Cronin, Award-winning author of How Terrorism Ends“Beneath the headlines of terrorism are the stories of ordinary people, often coerced, conned or co-opted into militant ranks. In this work of fearless reporting and empathic engagement, Katerina Sergatskova explores how men from post-Soviet Eurasia helped shape ISIS, and dragged so many women into a world of fear and violence in the process.”—Professor Mark Galeotti, University College London"A fascinating book filled with untold stories of ISIS recruitment in post-Soviet territories."—Thomas Hegghammer, Senior Research Fellow in Politics, All Souls College, Oxford

• AcknowledgementsTranslator’s NoteWhat You Need to Know Before You Start Reading This BookChapter One: Happily Ever AfterChapter Two: HassanChapter Three: KhavaChapter Four: Hell’s Main GuyChapter Five: Chechnya without ChechensChapter Six: RosettaChapter Seven: ZonaChapter Eight: The BasementChapter Nine: The Elusive RefugeeChapter Ten: LopotaChapter Eleven: The Silk RoadChapter Twelve: The GuideChapter Thirteen: UsamaChapter Fourteen: SonChapter Fifteen: CaliphateChapter Sixteen: Do Not Try to Leave the Islamic StateChapter Seventeen: You Can’t Hide the TruthChapter Eighteen: MosulChapter Nineteen: EscapeChapter Twenty: DisagreementsChapter Twenty-One: Connection LostChapter Twenty-Two: Special Operation in Tbilisi Chapter Twenty-Three: RosfinmonitoringChapter Twenty-Four: Jihad QueueChapter Twenty-Five: ExplosionChapter Twenty-Six: ArrestChapter Twenty-Seven: KhadijaEpilogue: What Remains Is Future

Katerina Sergatskova is an award-winning journalist, author, entrepreneur, and security trainer specializing in high-risk environments. She extensively reported on the war in Ukraine, Russian invasion, human rights violations in Eastern Europe, and war on the Islamic State in the Middle East.Kate Tsurkan is an award-winning translator, writer, and editor. Her writing and translations have appeared in The New Yorker, Harpers, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and a number of other publications. She is the culture reporter at the Kyiv Independent.

“With first-hand reporting of gripping personal stories, this book traces exactly how the Russian wars in Chechnya steadily fueled the rise of ISIS. Overwhelming military force did not end terrorism. Generational rage, suffering, and dislocation fueled its global spread to Syria, Iraq, and beyond.  Highly recommended.” —Audrey Kurth Cronin, Award-winning author of How Terrorism Ends“Beneath the headlines of terrorism are the stories of ordinary people, often coerced, conned or co-opted into militant ranks. In this work of fearless reporting and empathic engagement, Katerina Sergatskova explores how men from post-Soviet Eurasia helped shape ISIS, and dragged so many women into a world of fear and violence in the process.”—Professor Mark Galeotti, University College London"A fascinating book filled with untold stories of ISIS recruitment in post-Soviet territories."—Thomas Hegghammer, Senior Research Fellow in Politics, All Souls College, Oxford

• AcknowledgementsTranslator’s NoteWhat You Need to Know Before You Start Reading This BookChapter One: Happily Ever AfterChapter Two: HassanChapter Three: KhavaChapter Four: Hell’s Main GuyChapter Five: Chechnya without ChechensChapter Six: RosettaChapter Seven: ZonaChapter Eight: The BasementChapter Nine: The Elusive RefugeeChapter Ten: LopotaChapter Eleven: The Silk RoadChapter Twelve: The GuideChapter Thirteen: UsamaChapter Fourteen: SonChapter Fifteen: CaliphateChapter Sixteen: Do Not Try to Leave the Islamic StateChapter Seventeen: You Can’t Hide the TruthChapter Eighteen: MosulChapter Nineteen: EscapeChapter Twenty: DisagreementsChapter Twenty-One: Connection LostChapter Twenty-Two: Special Operation in Tbilisi Chapter Twenty-Three: RosfinmonitoringChapter Twenty-Four: Jihad QueueChapter Twenty-Five: ExplosionChapter Twenty-Six: ArrestChapter Twenty-Seven: KhadijaEpilogue: What Remains Is Future