The Arab-German journalist Souad Mekhennet narrowly avoided being radicalized. Now she uncovers what motivates fervent believers in jihad.

Book review by Alexis Okeowo @ NewYorker.com, June 20

[....] When we talk about radicalization, the narrative moves from vague discontent to extremism—a journey spurred by alienation, discrimination, and poverty. In the Arab-German journalist Souad Mekhennet’s new book, “I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad,” an enthralling and sometimes shocking blend of reportage and memoir from the centers of jihadi networks in the Middle East and North Africa, Mekhennet interrogates those assumptions, which don’t always hold true. A Frankfurt correspondent for the Washington Post, Mekhennet has a singular perspective on the modern crisis of terrorist violence, intimate and constantly questioning. Mekhennet says that she is someone who narrowly escaped being radicalized herself—owing to the influence of her involved parents and family friends. Instead, she turned to uncovering what motivates the most fervent of believers in jihad, and how they became so unrepentant [....]