According to the back of Meredith Tax’s A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State, a “democratic society” with “women on the front lines as fierce warriors and leaders” is growing in the midst of Syria’s destruction. This new society — Rojava — was founded by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian-Kurdish offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Rojava drew broad attention during the 2014 defense of Kobanê. Tax’s book is intended for readers seeking an introduction to the history of the Kurdish national movement and its heroic fight against ISIS in northern Syria. But though Tax convincingly argues that the Left should support the Kurdish liberation movement, A Road Unforeseen is marred by an uneven account of Kurdish history and willingness to gloss over the movement’s missteps.