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Ever since three teenage girls from east London were photographed at Gatwick Airport in February 2015 – on their way to Turkey and then Syria to join the extremist group IS in what it then called its 'caliphate' – there has been a need for answers to the question WHY. Why did they leave their homes to join people already known for summary executions? Azadeh Moaveni, a long time foreign correspondent covering the Middle East has spent the last few years tracing the steps of those three girls and several others who made the same journey. Her book is called: Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS.

(Picture: The wife of an Islamic State fighter with a child stands with an armed Syrian Democratic Forces soldier at al-Hol displacement camp in Syria, April 2019. Credit: Reuters)