Radical: My Journey Out Of Islamist Extremism Hardcover – October 15, 2013

Nawaz chronicles his journey from a not so religious youth to an islamist muslim to eventually a reformer. The book starts out with him as a normal youth and the various social changes that were occuring in the U.K. that eventually led him to become more observant and turn to islamism. I felt the journey to islamism and his career as an islamist leading to his arrest and imprisonment were very detailed and the most compelling part of the book. He provides you a detailed look into a world most people would never have heard of and closely details the working of an extremely powerful organization that has the power and actively seeks to take over entire governments.The second half of the book that covered his de-radicalization I felt was unevenly executed and lacked many details, to the point that it was difficult at times to figure out what was going on. For example, in interviews he often discusses the influence meeting former terrorists who were now de-radicalized had on him but he fails to go into any details what they said to him at all but merely mentions that they taught him everything he had thought was wrong.After he is released, the book is even more uneven and reads more like an outline of what he did and how he founded quillium, as opposed to a story about what he went through and what his family's reactions were etc.Overall it is a very compelling story by an extremely interesting and inspirational figure, but the second half of the book suffers from uneven writing and lack of detail.

Nawaz paints for us a developmental arc from troubled and bullied minority youth in the West, to a politically active Islamist who fully anchored his personal identity in the building of a hoped-for international Islamist theocracy, to a liberal activist who now works to address those in both of the previous camps. The mental processes that led a youth seeking an identity to find it in the darker recesses of the Qur'an and its associated political movements were fascinating. Just as interesting was Nawaz's later long, honest look in the mirror that led him back to embracing liberal values and reaching out to allies of different stripes than his own, to help Islam and Islamic culture adapt to a modern era of personal freedom. Despite the challenges Muslims face in modernity, such as the bullying Nawaz faced in his youth in England, Nawaz calls for civility, reason, and mutual respect. Especially interesting are Nawaz's experiences of being incarcerated as a terrorist in an Egyptian prison under a regime that the West allied itself with under the premise of "the enemy of my enemy," and how his thought was shaped by his experiences there. This book helps Western minds understand how someone becomes an extremist and how one can come back from it.

Those living in countries such as the U.S., U.K. tend to believe our world views and values, are shared by the majority of people and nations outside of our own boundaries. This book provides deep insight into how values are adopted as children and young adults, and how often we do not seek to challenge those views, based on personal perceptions and world views that are heavily influenced by our own maturity, life experiences, knowledge, resiliency from childhood and throughout the various cycles of adulthood. We maybe so entrenched in our views, that it takes a large wakeup call to shake us out of our discomfort to see things differently. Thus, well entrenched prejudices (race, religion, culture, etc.) can lead to faulty judgment, actions and justification of actions, which are often rewarded and further entrenched by group-think, especially those tending to reside on the far "left" or "right" that leave little flexibility for the "rights" of others, especially if it tends to differ from one's own comfort zone.Inequality and/or feelings of superiority are not created nor fed by happenstance, by rather by family, religion, social, economic, education and culture causes, and age (teen and adulthood) does not merely dictate personal maturity nor resilience . Nawaz takes the reader on a fascinating journey of a child becoming a man and the multiple stages of 'adulthood' that one walks through in thought processes, values, understanding, compassion, empathy and recognizing that even long held beliefs may no longer serve one well and/or may be ineffective or damaging to one's personal growth as emotionally intelligent and responsible human being.

A fascinating autobiographical account of a young English man growing up in the 80s and 90s, becoming radicalized through his love for hip-hop, then joining an Islamist group and finally withdrawing. While he may not be typical of all young people growing up in Western countries who join radical Islamist movements, Nawaz provides useful insights into how this young man and his friends became enmeshed in the movement. Nawaz is clear-eyed and self-critical and he provides a good explanation of what attracted him to Islamism and what eventually repelled him. The book constitutes a valuable antidote to some of the simplistic explanations of Islamic radicalization. It reminds me a bit of the rise of Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weathermen in the U.S. during the 1960s, although the latter movements did not arise so much out of exclusion and prejudice as did Islamism in Europe and the U.S. What links them was a frustrated desire to engage with a political system that seemed incapable of hearing their ideas and unable to understand the roots of revolutionary movements in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Amazing read and a brilliant book. Took an awful lot longer than expected to arrive. Perhaps due to overseas shipping but was still a great read.

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From confused B-boy in England to tortured Islamist in Egyptian prison to confident spokesman for Liberal Democracy worldwide, Maajid Nawaz is a gifted writer who describes his personal odyssey in fascinating detail. Along the way, Nawaz's thoughtful deconstruction of radical Islamism provides the reader with theoretical insight -- and practical basis for counterattack.

This was a fascinating read. I picked the book up and could not put it down.It gives a great insight into the motivations of Jihadists and how people even in today's world can become radicalized, and more importantly, the steps that can be taken to reverse that.

Amazing personal story, well argued and thought-provoking analysis as well as history lesson that sets one on the path to read and research more on the topic and beyond. Great prose as well. Would highly recommend for helping to understand involvement in violence of any religious flavor and also many other kinds.