Synopses & Reviews
The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on a scale few had imagined possible. In their aftermath, we exaggerated the men who perpetrated the attacks, shaping hasty and often mistaken reporting into caricatures we could comprehend -- monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. In reality, the 9/11 hijackers were unexceptional men, not much different from countless others. It is this ordinary enemy, not the caricature, that we must understand if we are to have a legitimate hope of defeating terrorism.
Using research undertaken in twenty countries on four continents, Los Angeles Times correspondent Terry McDermott provides gripping, authoritative portraits of the main players in the 9/11 plot. With brilliant reporting and thoughtful analysis, McDermott brings us a clearer, more nuanced, and in some ways more frightening, understanding of the landmark event of our time.
Synopsis
The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on an unimaginable scale. In their aftermath, reports about the men who perpetrated the attacks were often exaggerated and distorted, producing caricatures of monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. But the terrifying reality is that the 9/11 hijackers and their cohorts were not much different from many other people.
Award-winning reporter Terry McDermott set out to understand what could turn apolitical, only mildly religious people into violent fundamentalist terrorists. Traveling to twenty countries on four continents, McDermott creates portraits of the main players of the 9/11 plot. He brings us a clearer, more nuanced and in some ways more frightening picture of the landmark tragedy of our time.
Terry McDermott has been a reporter at eight newspapers for twenty-five years, the last seven at the Los Angeles Times, where he is a national correspondent. He has won prizes for his journalism in a number of fields, including foreign affairs, economics, and science.
"Absorbing ... A] richly textured narrative full of the sort of small, telling details that turn these men from faceless figures of evil into individuals."--New York Times
Synopsis
The definitive book on the 19 men who brought such devastation and terror to this country ... a well-told, meticulously researched cautionary tale. -- Washington Post Book World
Using research undertaken in twenty countries on four continents, Los Angeles Times correspondent Terry McDermott provides gripping, authoritative portraits of the main players in the 9/11 plot. With brilliant reporting and thoughtful analysis, McDermott brings us a clearer, more nuanced, and in some ways more frightening, understanding of the landmark event of our time.
The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on a scale few had imagined possible. In their aftermath, we exaggerated the men who perpetrated the attacks, shaping hasty and often mistaken reporting into caricatures we could comprehend--monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. In reality, the 9/11 hijackers were unexceptional men, not much different from countless others. It is this ordinary enemy, not the caricature, that we must understand if we are to have a legitimate hope of defeating terrorism.
About the Author
Terry McDermott has been a reporter at eight newspapers for twenty-five years, the last seven at the Los Angeles Times, where he is a national correspondent. He has won prizes for his journalism in a number of fields, including foreign affairs, economics, and science.