The Looming Tower (TPB) (OM): Al Qaeda's Road to 9/11 - Softcover

Wright, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0713999764 ISBN 13: 9780713999761

Publisher: Allen Lane, 2006

Synopsis

In November 1948 a frail, middle-aged writer, Sayyid Qutb, left Egypt on a cruise ship bound for New York. His impressions of what he found there - jazz bands and dancing, drunks in alleyways, the neon glow of burlesque house - would change his view of the West fundamentally, and give birth to the group we now know as Al Qaeda...

The Looming Tower is the first book to tell the full story of Al Qaeda from its roots up to 9/11. Drawing on astonishing interviews and first-hand sources, it investigates the extraordinary group of ideologues behind this organization - and those who tried to stop them. There is the tormented, resentful Qutb, whose writings on the godlessness of Americans turned him into a martyr for Islamic extremists around the world. There is Ayman al-Zawahiri: a devout student who, by the age of fifteen, had already helped to form an underground jihadist cell. There is the deeply contradictory Osama bin Laden: Saudi millionaire turned muhajideen commander, whose interests merged with al-Zawahiri's to form a global terror coalition. And there is the FBI's counterterrorism chief, the flamboyant John O'Neill, who found his warnings that 'something big' was coming continually ignored, and would finally meet his fate in the shadow of the Twin Towers.

Interweaving this extraordinary story with events including the Israeli-Palestine conflict, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the troubles in Egypt and the first attack on the World Trade Center, Lawrence Wright takes us into training camps, mountain hideouts and top secret meetings to explore how it all fed into the planning and execution of 9/11 - and reveals the real, complex origins of Al Qaeda's hatred of the west.

About this title

Review:

Powerful and important . . . a history of a man and a movement, replete with the accidents of history and historic inevitability. Kevin Horrigan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Don t read The Looming Tower in bed. This book requires a straight spine and full attention . . . The reporting is so good that it will matter in 100 years. Wright s determined, disciplined work has made his book indispensable. Karen Long, The Plain Dealer
A page-turner . . . encompassing religion, politics, economics and more. If you ve been meaning to sharpen your understanding of what all led up to September 11, 2001, then Wright may have written just what you ve been waiting for. Tom Gallagher, San Francisco Chronicle
Brilliant . . . describes the contorted intellectual journey that has taken place among some Muslims which allows a holy book that appears to condemn suicide and the killing on innocents to be used to justify catastrophic terrorism. Stephen Fidler, Financial Times

A magisterial, beautifully crafted narrative . . . This focus on character, along with Wright s five years of fierce on-the-ground reporting (he lists 560 interviewees), pays off.
Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Los Angeles Times
Deeply researched . . . immaculately crafted.
Peter Bergen, The Wall Street Journal
What a riveting tale Lawrence Wright fashions in this marvelous book. The Looming Tower is not just a detailed, heart-stopping account of the events leading up to 9/11, written with style and verve. [It s] a thoughtful examination of the world that produced the men who brought us 9/11, and of their progeny who bedevil us today. The portrait of John O Neill, the driven, demon-ridden F.B. I. agent who worked so frantically to stop Osama bin Laden, only to perish in the attack on the World Trade Center, is worth the price of the book alone. The Looming Tower is a thriller. And it s a tragedy, too.
Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review cover

Dozens of intricately reported books about 9/11 are already available; I had read perhaps half of them [before] starting The Looming Tower. But Lawrence Wright s book is my new touchstone. None of the previous books led me to say Aha, now I think I understand as frequently.
Steve Weinberg, The Boston Globe
A magisterial, beautifully crafted narrative . . . This focus on character, along with Wright s five years of fierce on-the-ground reporting (he lists 560 interviewees), pays off. Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Los Angeles Times
Deeply researched . . . immaculately crafted. Peter Bergen, The Wall Street Journal
A searing view of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, a view that is at once wrenchingly intimate and boldly sweeping in its historical perspective . . . a narrative history that possesses all the immediacy and emotional power of a novel, an account that indelibly illustrates how the political and the personal, the public and the private were often inextricably intertwined.
Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Important, gripping . . . One of the best books yet on the history of terrorism.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
Lawrence Wright provides a graceful and remarkably intimate set of portraits of the people who brought us 9/11. It is a tale of extravagant zealotry and incessant bumbling that would be merely absurd if the consequences were not so grisly.
Gary Sick
"Lawrence Wright's integrity and diligence as a reporter shine through every page of this riveting narrative."
Robert A. Caro
A towering achievement. One of the best and more important books of recent years. Lawrence Wright has dug deep into and written well a story every American should know. A masterful combination of reporting and writing.
Dan Rather
Comprehensive and compelling Wright has written what must be considered a definitive work on the antecedents to 9/11 Essential for an understanding of that dreadful day.
--starred Kirkus review"

-Powerful and important . . . a history of a man and a movement, replete with the accidents of history and historic inevitability.- --Kevin Horrigan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
-Don't read The Looming Tower in bed. This book requires a straight spine and full attention . . . The reporting is so good that it will matter in 100 years. Wright's determined, disciplined work has made his book indispensable. - --Karen Long, The Plain Dealer
-A page-turner . . . encompassing religion, politics, economics and more. If you've been meaning to sharpen your understanding of what all led up to September 11, 2001, then Wright may have written just what you've been waiting for.- --Tom Gallagher, San Francisco Chronicle
-Brilliant . . . describes the contorted intellectual journey that has taken place among some Muslims which allows a holy book that appears to condemn suicide and the killing on innocents to be used to justify catastrophic terrorism.- --Stephen Fidler, Financial Times

-A magisterial, beautifully crafted narrative . . . This focus on character, along with Wright's five years of fierce on-the-ground reporting (he lists 560 interviewees), pays off.-
--Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Los Angeles Times
-Deeply researched . . . immaculately crafted.-
--Peter Bergen, The Wall Street Journal
-What a riveting tale Lawrence Wright fashions in this marvelous book. 'The Looming Tower' is not just a detailed, heart-stopping account of the events leading up to 9/11, written with style and verve. [It's] a thoughtful examination of the world that produced the men who brought us 9/11, and of their progeny who bedevil us today. The portrait of John O'Neill, the driven, demon-ridden F.B. I. agent who worked so frantically to stop Osama bin Laden, only to perish in the attack on the World Trade Center, is worth the price of the book alone. 'The Looming Tower' is a thriller. And it's a tragedy, too.-
-Dexter Filkins, The New York Times Book Review cover

-Dozens of intricately reported books about 9/11 are already available; I had read perhaps half of them [before] starting The Looming Tower. But Lawrence Wright's book is my new touchstone. None of the previous books led me to say 'Aha, now I think I understand' as frequently.-
--Steve Weinberg, The Boston Globe
-A magisterial, beautifully crafted narrative . . . This focus on character, along with Wright's five years of fierce on-the-ground reporting (he lists 560 interviewees), pays off.- --Daniel Kurtz-Phelan, Los Angeles Times
-Deeply researched . . . immaculately crafted.- --Peter Bergen, The Wall Street Journal
-A searing view of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, a view that is at once wrenchingly intimate and boldly sweeping in its historical perspective . . . a narrative history that possesses all the immediacy and emotional power of a novel, an account that indelibly illustrates how the political and the personal, the public and the private were often inextricably intertwined.-
-Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
-Important, gripping . . . One of the best books yet on the history of terrorism.-
--Publishers Weekly, starred review
-Lawrence Wright provides a graceful and remarkably intimate set of portraits of the people who brought us 9/11. It is a tale of extravagant zealotry and incessant bumbling that would be merely absurd if the consequences were not so grisly.-
--Gary Sick
-Lawrence Wright's integrity and diligence as a reporter shine through every page of this riveting narrative.-
--Robert A. Caro
-A towering achievement. One of the best and more important books of recent years. Lawrence Wright has dug deep into and written well a story every American should know. A masterful combination of reporting and writing.-
--Dan Rather
-Comprehensive and compelling...Wright has written what must be considered a definitive work on the antecedents to 9/11...Essential for an understanding of that dreadful day.-
--starred Kirkus review

From the Publisher:

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Chosen as book of the year by The Times, Evening Standard, Economist, Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Sunday Telegraph, The Herald, Observer, Guardian and New Statesman.

About this edition

• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0713999764
• ISBN 13: 9780713999761
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 480