by Peter Bergen
First published 2012
Peter Bergen chronicles the decade-long pursuit of Osama bin Laden from his escape after 9/11 to his death in Pakistan. Bergen had interviewed bin Laden years earlier and wrote the bestselling Holy War, Inc. just before the attacks. Now he traces how the terrorist leader fled Afghanistan after the Taliban's defeat, nearly getting captured at Tora Bora before finding refuge in an Abbottabad compound. CIA analysts, driven by their failures around 9/11 and Iraqi WMDs, followed the smallest leads until they identified a courier called "the Kuwaiti." This man led them to a suspicious building near a Pakistani military academy where bin Laden lived in austere conditions while trying to direct al-Qaeda operations. Bergen takes readers into the White House Situation Room where Obama weighed conflicting advice from his advisors before authorizing the risky raid. He then follows the Navy SEALs who carried out Operation Neptune Spear. Drawing on extensive interviews with White House officials, CIA analysts, Pakistani intelligence, and military personnel, Bergen provides a comprehensive account of both the manhunt and al-Qaeda's decline during bin Laden's final years in hiding.
Genres: biography, history, non-fiction, 21st-century, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, true-crime
Setting: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Abbottabad
Period: 9/11, 2001-2011
384 pages · Hardcover · Crown