The Fourth Ordeal tells the history of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt from the late 1960s until 2018. Based on over 140 first-hand interviews with leaders, rank-and-file members and dissidents, as well as a wide range of original written sources, the story traces the Brotherhood's re-emergence and rise following the collapse of Nasser's Arab nationalism, all the way to its short-lived experiment with power and the subsequent period of imprisonment, persecution and exile. Unique in terms of its source base, this book provides readers with unprecedented insight into the Brotherhood's internal politics during fifty years of its history.

‘This superb oral history offers a forensic analysis of the Brotherhood's far from inevitable rise and fall from power in Egypt. Brothers are presented neither as victims nor villains, rather as social actors forced to make difficult choices in unprecedented circumstances. With enviable scholarly impartiality, The Fourth Ordeal is history at its best.'

Hazem Kandil - Cambridge University

‘A highly readable account of the Muslim Brotherhood's modern history, based on a well of primary sources and interviews. Focusing on factional struggles between old-school leaders and younger reformists, the book offers an insightful interpretation of the background to the failed Mursi presidency and the violent movement's suppression in 2013.'

Brynjar Lia - University of Oslo

‘A compelling and dramatic account of the rise of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood from suppressed opposition movement to the pinnacle of presidential power, only to be overthrown by the military in 2013 and banned as a terrorist organisation. An outstanding book, drawing on extensive interviews of Muslim brothers and their opponents, Victor J. Willi tells the story of the Muslim Brothers in their own words and as he himself witnessed events in the 2010s. The best book available on the most influential Islamist movement in the world.'

Eugene Rogan - University of Oxford

‘This is a fresh contribution to the much-studied Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, with a novel concentration on the internal voices of this organization … An impressive merit of the book is the ‘oral history’ approach.’

Chaoqun Lian Source: China International Strategy Review