Superb

I've read Looming Tower twice and I am considering a third time. Wright writes with such honesty, skill and finesse you'll almost forget you are reading history yet all the more riveting because it is history. Absolutely relevant, fascinating and astounding. A must read.

one fabulous read

Only the greatest writers can marshal a cast of thousands, depict them with all their multi-faceted characterological foibles and strengths, march them across history, and keep a reader engaged. In fact, the book starts fast and flies through the final one hundred pages. Some very thoughtful editor included a wonderful map and list of the "cast of thousands," which greatly aids in keeping the Arab names straight.Great holiday gift, to ask for or to give. (This review is of the printed version.)

Bin Laden Finally Provoked the War He Wanted

Lawrence Wright, a regular contributor to The New Yorker, provides an immensely instructive history of the development of al-Qaeda. The book begins with a fascinating chapter on Sayyid Qutb, I daresay not a name on the tip of most American tongues, but a man whose writing provided the basis for the future Islamist movement.