Their devastating and deadly actions punctuate the world news almost nightly, yet they remain faceless figures amidst the violence and turmoil that engulf the Middle East. And, whether it’s the C4-laden martyrs of Hezbollah or the car bombing insurgents of Iraq, what could possibly compel a suicide bomber to voluntarily take their own lives, along with those of hundreds of innocent victims? There is perhaps no one better equipped to investigate this terrifying practice than Robert Baer, a decorated, former Middle East CIA Agent and the man George Clooney’s character was based on in the Academy Award®-winning film, Syriana. Baer returns to his former center of operations to trace the origins of the modern day bomber from the Iran-Iraq war to the Middle Eastern streets of today. He reveals the secret history of the suicide bomber, from the child martyrs of the Iran-Iraq war, the truck bombers in southern Lebanon, to the young men and women who now strap explosives to their bodies and calmly blow themselves up in crowded streets and markets across the Middle East. Baer also reveals the fascinating story of the world’s first suicide bomber, 13-year-old Hossein Fahmideh--who was martyred in the Iran-Iraq war and is now a hero in Iran.