Synopses & Reviews
Who is Osama bin Laden—the only terrorist leader ever to have declared a holy war against America? What drives him and those he leads to hate a West that helped enrich and arm them? Bin Laden's name has been linked to a number of incidents that have cost Americans their lives, including the bombing of the USS
Cole in 2000 and the destruction of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Now, he is linked to the recent catastrophic assaults on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Here is a comprehensive account of the rise of bin Laden. In meticulous detail, world-renowned terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky uncovers the events in bin Laden's life that turned the once-promising engineering student into a cold-blooded leader of radical Islam. In the process, Bodansky reveals a chilling story that is as current as today's headlines but as ancient as the Crusades—a story that transcends bin Laden and any other single man. This book is a sobering wake-up call.
"This fascinating account of Osama bin Laden's war against America illustrates the murky world of Islamic extremism and state sponsored terrorism."
—Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Leavey Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University
"Americans need to know about Osama bin Laden, and the best place to find out is in this trenchant study of the man. A brilliant work."
—Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard
Review
"This fascinating account of Osama bin Laden's war against America illustrates the murky world of Islamic extremism and state sponsored terrorism." Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Leavey Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University
Review
"Americans need to know about Osama bin Laden, and the best place to find out is in this trenchant study of the man. A brilliant work." Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard
Review
"...[L]ike all of the books and in-depth reports on bin Laden currently available, Bodansky's was written before the attacks and published by a small specialty press; it wasn't created with the demands of a general readership in mind. It's odd to think of ordinary people across the nation dutifully plowing through this monumental conglomeration of facts looking for answers to why bin Laden would order the slaughter of thousands of American office workers just as they were finishing their first cups of coffee on a fine fall morning. Bodansky, an Israeli-born military analyst who is the director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare and has done consulting work for the U.S. departments of State and Defense, doesn't really deal in that kind of explanation; he's a professional speaking, for the most part, to other professionals and perhaps to the occasional buff. But burrow between the lines in Bin Laden and you can find clues about the character of America's Most Wanted intimations that paint bin Laden as a disturbingly impressive man." Laura Miller, Salon.com (read the entire Salon review)
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 413-417) and index.
About the Author
Yossef Bodansky, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America, is the director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. In addition, he is the director of research at the International Strategic Studies Association and a senior editor for the Defense and Foreign Affairs group of publications. The author of eight books on international terrorism and global crises, he is a former senior consultant for the U.S. Departments of Defense and State. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area.