Looking at jihadist movements from the inside, examining their internal disagreements and how they relate to the communities around them, this study draws on case studies from North Africa and the Sahel to shed new light on the phenomenon of mass-based jihadist movements and proto-states.

Offers unique insights into the inner workings of jihadist organisations over the past three decades in North Africa and the Sahel.

'The question of how to understand jihadi groups - global or local, as entirely distinctive by virtue of their unique ideology or as political groups that face the same basic challenges and opportunities as other insurgencies - has vexed scholars for decades. Thuston's remarkable contribution is to show us how to take them seriously as ideologues and political actors, as believers and sophisticated political entrepreneurs and coalition-builders. In doing so, he offers us a new way to understand why some thrive and grow, and others fracture or fade.' Brandon Kendhammer, Ohio University