Product Description

Peter Bergen, conducted the first TV interview with Osama bin Laden, 'the most significant financial sponsor of Islamic extremist activity in the world today',after the US government had accused him of running terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Sudan. In August 1996 bin Laden issued his first call to Muslims to attack U.S. targets. Since then his name has been linked to every major anti-American terrorist act by Muslims. For this book Bergen draws on ten years of 'bin Laden watching'. The book will reveal the Islamist militant's unsuspected previous links with the West, and why he has proved such a force throughout the Muslim world. Bergen's personal experience of bin Laden and his secret world helps make this such a powerful and well-informed book that is unrivalled by anything already published or announced..

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #762715 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

About the Author
Peter Bergen, CNN's terrorism analyst, with CNN since 1990. In 1983 he researched a documentary about Afghan refugees living in Pakistan for Britain's Channel 4. In March 1997 Osama bin Laden agreed to be interviewed by him in Afghanistan, the first TV interview with him and members of his organisation. Bergen is a winner of the Edward R Murrow Award for best documentary on foreign affairs. An American by birth, Peter Bergen was educated in the UK at Ampleforth and New College, Oxford.

Customer Reviews

Surprisingly lucid, informative, and expert account
Not - as I half expected - a quick tabloid exploitation of recent events.

Bergen has interviewed numerous sources worldwide. This gives the reader a panoramic view of the Bin Laden network, coupled with a genuine sense of the people involved. Exemplary research underpins the author's analysis. You may not always agree with Bergen, but you can certainly respect the book's integrity and use of argument.

bin Laden's history, the politics and goals of Islamic militantism, and the alliances, activities, and methods of al-Qaeda, are all relayed in a lively, engaging style. The subject matter is never sensationalised (it hardly needs to be), and the book as a whole is a vivid confirmation of the globalised threat posed by groups either roughly allied to bin Laden, or under his formal control.

In all, this is a highly informative and reasoned account, written, of course, from a western perspective. In what will probably be a year when books on bin Laden fill the shelves, this one will prove hard to beat.

Hard to Beat! Excellent, well-balanced book!
I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, thinking as some of the other reviewers did that this would be a quickly-put-together offering to jump on the 'books about terrorism' bandwagon. However, this book was almost at the publishing stage at the time of the attacks in New York and Washington, and so comes across as extremely well researched and put together, without the hysteria of some other books on this subject (it has since been updated to include the 9/11 attacks). Yes, it is written by a Western journalist, however, Peter Bergen has travelled throughout the Middle East and has interviewed many key figures, including bin Laden. I found this book to very informative and, I think, as balanced as any Western writer can be. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in current world affairs, and anyone seeking some answers as to why the world is facing an increase in terrorist attacks, and how targets are selected. The historical detail is fascinating and allows the reader to follow how this movement has grown and perhaps how the world needs to respond in the future. Read this book!

Provides the relevant background on the attacks on the USA
For all those who wanted to know more about the real origins of September 11th this books provides you with increadible depth of knowledge of the matter. By far more interesting than all books written hastily after the events and it provides a background of Ossama Bin Laden which the author gathered over the years. Undoubtebly a powerful book which forces the reader into reflecting on the right questions, it enables a better comprehension of the fracture between islamic extremists and occidental capitalists.