Books : The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)

Rating: - The Best Book of This Subject
I have read extensively about Islamic terrorism and Al Qaeda and The Looming Tower is by far the most compelling and comprehensive book on this subject. It clearly lays out the social, philosophical and theological progression and foundations that led to 9/11. Though you may not agree, by the end of the book you clearly understand the radical extemist's rationale and the historic time line of the people and events that led to 9/11. Though it provides history, The Looming Tower reads like a novel which I could not put down. It is the seminal book on this subject.

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Rating: - Now I understand
Not being a student of history, or caring much about Muslims or Al Qaeda, I was reluctant to start The Looming Tower. Once I began, however, I was swept up by the pathology. Recognizing Qutb's dysfunctional personality is key to realizing what lost souls bin Laden and Zawahiri are. But understanding comes from knowing how inept our government has been. After reading The Looming Tower, read Marching into Hell. Then try to sleep.

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Rating: - A Looming History
I have found this to be an engrossing account. Once I got used to the names, it reads like a novel. So very informative and really holds my attention.
If you like history and detail, you'll love this book.

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Rating: - Best book on the subject
Since 9/11, I've read extensively on our enemies in the Middle East. This book is the best distillation of their ideology, their training, their tactics that you are going to find. Buy it, read it, and buy more for your family.

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Rating: - 911 LOOMS OVER IRAQ
Technically, The Looming Tower has nothing to do with Iraq. It ends at 9/11. However, no other book on the subject illuminates so well the underpinnings of the complex terrorist movements that eventuate in a lucky but effective Al Qaeda. No other book documents so well the insularity, defensiveness, and ultimately the arrogance that leaves the United States so unprepared to deal with a Muslim based terror group. Wright builds his story like a police procedural. He examines the streams of influence that bring together former Afghan insurgents, Egyptian radicals, and Bin Laden himself into an uncomfortable federation that can barely find a home anywhere. He examines the motives and psychology of the players, not simply their religious and political aims. And he weaves the tale together into a fascinating narrative. On the other side, he shows how unwillingness to take the nascent movement seriously combines with thoughtless inertia to create an inability to understand Al Qaeda's threat when it could have been managed or even stopped. Wright also describes and analyzes how the "siloizaton" of the agencies in charge of the intelligence fed into policy and operational incompetence. As both stories begin to come together on the day of the flaming towers, as in a good procedural novel we are prepared for the ending and undestand how it inevitably came to be. The spate of books on the events that brought us from 9/11 to a manipulated war in Iraq all make more sense because of the framework established by The Looming Tower.