(The blog formerly known as) All Things Counter Terrorism

For those of you interested…my first book, co-authored with Mustafa Hamid, is finally edging towards its release in the US and UK!!!

What is it about you ask? Well this is the book’s description on the publisher’s website:

A former senior mujahidin figure and an ex-counter-terrorism analyst cooperating to write a book on the history and legacy of Arab-Afghan fighters in Afghanistan is a remarkable and improbable undertaking. Yet this is what Mustafa Hamid, aka Abu Walid al-Masri, and Leah Farrall have achieved with the publication of their ground-breaking work.

The result of thousands of hours of discussions over several years, The Arabs at War in Afghanistan offers significant new insights into the history of many of today’s militant Salafi groups and movements. By revealing the real origins of the Taliban and al-Qaeda and the jostling among the various jihadi groups, this account not only challenges conventional wisdom, but also raises uncomfortable questions as to how events from this important period have been so badly misconstrued.

  http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-arabs-at-war-in-afghanistan/

It’s been an amazing few years and if someone had ever told either of us when we started our online debate nearly five years ago we’d end up co-authoring a book together, we would have probably had a rare moment of agreement when reaching the conclusion they were crazy. Yet, here we are. The book is done and the first pre-publication reviews are out.

You can find them over at the Hurst Website. The book is being published by Hurst in the UK and Oxford University Press in the US.

If you are interested in getting a review copy please send me an email or contact Hurst directly at the contact details on their website.

For those interested in an Arabic summary of the book, you can find one written by Mustafa here (on the book’s website, which we still need to update a little once I finish my teaching admin next week).