CATEGORY

Peter Bergen conducted the first TV interview with Osama bin Laden, 'the most significant financial sponsor of Islamic extremist activity in the world today', after the US government had accused him of running terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and Sudan. In August 1996 bin Laden issued his first call to Muslims to attack US targets. Since then his name has been linked to every major anti-American terrorist act by Muslims. For this book Bergen draws on ten years of 'bin Laden watching' to reveal the Islamist militant's unsuspected previous links with the West, and why he has proved such a force throughout the Muslim world. Bergen's personal experience of bin Laden and his secret world helps make this such a powerful and well-informed book that is unrivalled by any other book on the subject. The paperback contains a full consideration of the events of 11 September 2001,