They Will Have to Die Now: Mosul and the Fall of the Caliphate

In this masterpiece of war journalism based on months on the frontlines, award-winning reporter James Verini describes the climactic battle in the struggle against the Islamic State through the eyes of fighters and the families that refused to abandon their homes. The battle was a long time coming. Mosul, and its ancient counterpart Nineveh, have a proud history as the birthplace of Western culture, but they have also been an epicentre of cruelty and violence, from the ancient Assyrians to the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The Battle for Mosul was the first to show us the true shape of twenty-first century warfare, in which the distinction between military and civilian has collapsed and mobile phone towers are a strategic priority. As the government forces inch forward through narrow alleyways, co-ordinating their movements via WhatsApp, scanning for ISIS snipers and suicide car bombers using commercial drones, Verini shows how this viciously contested patch of earth came to represent a war for the soul of a country, its history and its future.