The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 By Lawrence Wright, John Taylor ISBN: 9780375414862 ASIN: B007CFPSBW ASIN: B0028N72JY ASIN: B000JMKNTW Published: 2006 Number of Pages: 480 Edition: 1st Binding: Hardcover

Pricing & Availability: Additional Details: Product Type: Book Publisher: Knopf Description: A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright s remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States. The Looming Tower achieves an unprecedented level of intimacy and insight by telling the story through the interweaving lives of four men: the two leaders of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri; the FBI s counterterrorism chief, John O Neill; and the former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki al-Faisal. As these lives unfold, we see revealed: the crosscurrents of modern Islam that helped to radicalize Zawahiri and bin Laden . . . the birth of al-Qaeda and its unsteady development into an organization capable of the American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the attack on the USS Cole . . . O Neill s heroic efforts to track al-Qaeda before 9/11, and his tragic death in the World Trade towers . . . Prince Turki s transformation from bin Laden s ally to his enemy . . . the failures of the FBI, CIA, and NSA to share intelligence that might have prevented the 9/11 attacks. The Looming Tower broadens and deepens our knowledge of these signal events by taking us behind the scenes. Here is Sayyid Qutb, founder of the modern Islamist movement, lonely and despairing as he meets Western culture up close in 1940s America; the privileged childhoods of bin Laden and Zawahiri; family life in the al-Qaeda compounds of Sudan and Afghanistan; O Neill s high-wire act in balancing his all-consuming career with his equally entangling personal life he was living with three women, each of them unaware of the others existence and the nitty-gritty of turf battles among U.S. intelligence agencies. Brilliantly conceived and written, The Looming Tower draws all elements of the story into a galvanizing narrative that adds immeasurably to our understanding of how we arrived at September 11, 2001. The richness of its new information, and the depth of its perceptions, can help us deal more wisely and effectively with the continuing terrorist threat."

Library of Congress Control Number
   - LC control Number:  2006041032
   - LC control Number: 2006041032

International Standard Book Number: 037541486X: 037541486X :: 9780375414862
   - Terms of availability: $27.95

Other Standard Identifier
   - Standard number or code: 9780375414862

Level of Bibliographic Control and Coding Detail: ml

Geographic Area Code: n-us---

Library of Congress Call Number
   - Classification number: HV
   - Classification number: HV6432.7
   - Item number: .W75 2006

Dewey Decimal Classification Number
   - Edition number: 22
   - Classification number: 973.931
   - Classification number: 973.931 W75 2006

Main Entry - Personal Name
   - Personal name: Wright, Lawrence,
   - Dates associated with a name: 1947-

Title Statement
   - Title: The looming tower :
   - Remainder of title: Al Qaeda and the road to 9/11 /
   - Remainder of title: Al-Qaeda and the road to 9/11 /
   - Statement of responsibility, etc.: Lawrence Wright
   - Statement of responsibility, etc.: Lawrence Wright.

Edition Statement: 1st ed: 1st ed.

Publication, Distribution, etc. (Imprint)
   - Place of publication, distribution, etc.: New York :
   - Place of publication, distribution, etc.: New York, NY :
   - Name of publisher, distribution, etc.: Knopf,
   - Date of publication, distribution, etc.: 2006
   - Date of publication, distribution, etc.: 2006.
   - Date of publication, distribution, etc.: c2006.

Physical Description
   - Extent: 469 p., [16] p. of plates :
   - Other physical details: ill., maps ;
   - Dimensions: 24 cm.
   - Dimensions: 25 cm
   - Dimensions: 25 cm.

Bibliography, etc. Note
   - Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 429-438) and index
   - Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 429-438) and index.
   - Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note: The martyr. -- The sporting club. -- The founder. -- Change. -- The miracles. -- The base. -- Return of the hero. -- Paradise. -- The Silicon Valley. -- Paradise lost. -- The prince of darkness. -- The boy spies. -- Hijira. -- Going operational. -- Bread and water. -- "Now it begins" -- The new millennium. -- Boom. -- The big wedding. -- Revelations. -- Principal characters: The martyr. -- The sporting club. -- The founder. -- Change. -- The miracles. -- The base. -- Return of the hero. -- Paradise. -- The Silicon Valley. -- Paradise lost. -- The prince of darkness. -- The boy spies. -- Hijira. -- Going operational. -- Bread and water. -- "Now it begins" -- The new millennium. -- Boom. -- The big wedding. -- Revelations. -- Principal characters.

Citation/Reference Note
   - Name of source: Kirkus,
   - Name of source: Libr Journal,
   - Name of source: Publ Weekly,
   - Location within source: July 00,2006.
   - Location within source: June 01,2006.
   - Location within source: June 19,2006.
   - Location within source: May 01,2006.

Summary, etc.: Explores both the American and Arab sides of the September 11th terrorist attacks in an account of the people, ideas, events, and intelligence failures that led to the attacks.

Target Audience Note: Adult.

Subject Added Entry - Corporate Name
   - Corporate name or jurisdiction name as entry element: Qaida (Organization)

Subject Added Entry - Topical Term
   - Topical term or geographic name entry element: Intelligence service
   - Topical term or geographic name entry element: September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001
   - Topical term or geographic name entry element: September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001.
   - Topical term or geographic name entry element: Terrorism
   - General subdivision: Government policy
   - Geographic subdivision: United States
   - Geographic subdivision: United States.