by Peter Bergen
First published 2006
Osama bin Laden has evaded capture for five years despite massive military efforts and global attention. Peter Bergen constructs a portrait of the al Qaeda leader through interviews with more than fifty people who knew him directly. These sources include his brother-in-law, his high school English teacher, and former al Qaeda members. Bergen met bin Laden in 1997, before he became widely known, and observed him present himself as a quiet cleric rather than a terrorist commander. The book challenges the view that bin Laden has become irrelevant. Bergen argues that each day of his freedom strengthens al Qaeda's image and that his continued statements influence terrorist actions worldwide. Terror attacks reached unprecedented levels in 2003 and doubled again in 2004. The book traces bin Laden's transformation from a shy, average student to the leader of a global terrorist network and examines how he commands such loyalty that followers will sacrifice their lives at his direction.
Genres: biography, history, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigative-journalism, true-crime
Setting: Al-Qaeda
Period: 2003, 2004
480 pages · Hardcover · Free Press