Books : The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Rating: - A masterful account
Lawrence Wright has produced an extremely well-researched and thoroughly documented account of the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, starting in 1948 and culminating with the horror of 9/11. Additionally, he does an excellent job recounting the steps and missteps that occurred within the US intelligence communities. Mr. Wright infers that lack of communication between the various agencies, indeed even some petty inter-agency jealousies, allowed certain events to go unnoticed when they should have raised red flags.

This book was five years in the making and Mr. Wright interviewed hundreds of people to create it. It's quite detailed, though very readable. I wouldn't call it a gripping narrative, but it certainly holds your interest. Mr. Wright does an excellent job of assembling and recounting the facts without injecting opinion.

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Rating: - The Looming Tower - a must read for those interested in knowing how we got to where we are.
The Looming Tower is a fast-paced, clearly written book that carefully illuminates the climate that spawned 9/11.

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Rating: - Why we failed to prevent 9.11
It's sad the book was ever written. We had opportunities to capture OBL, which would of completely disrupted al Qaeda. In fact, only a small faction within the CIA and FBI ever heard of the group. The were never taken serious. One of the main reasons of our intelligence failures, is rooted in the poor communication between the CIA, FBI, NSA. The book explains had there been better communication we probably would of got the 9.11 hijackers. The question I am still asking is: Have these problems been fixed?

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Rating: - The best book on the subject - period
I have read perhaps 20 books or more on 9/11, Al Qaeda, Bin Laden and thier origins. This books captures it all. Read this book if you want to understand Al Qaeda and the sheer evil the US is confronting.

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Rating: - A terrific history lesson
I wanted to learn more about Al Qaeda and, after careful research, I decided this was the book that could best teach me. I certainly wasn't disappointed.

It often read like a novel, but did not spare any of the minute details that gave me a better understanding of how we went from point A to points B through Z.