The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader » (Reprint)

Peter l. Bergen is CNN's terrorism analyst and a print and television reporter who has done extensive reporting about al Qaeda around the world for more than a decade. Bergen has written about terrorism for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Guardian, and The Daily Telegraph. An adjunct professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and a Fellow at the New America Foundation, Bergen is based in Washington, D.C.

Peter L. Bergen, author of the bestselling book Holy War, Inc., offers an astounding, unparalleled portrait of Osama bin Laden, comprised of Bergen's own interviews with more than fifty people who have known bin Laden personally, from his brother-in-law to his high school English teacher to former members of al Qaeda. The resulting collage of voices and memories affords an unprecedented glimpse into the life and true nature of the man directly responsible for the largest terror attack in history. How was bin Laden transformed from a shy, polite schoolboy to commander of the world's most formidable terrorist organization? Where was he on 9/11? How did he escape from Tora Bora? Is al Qaeda a top-down organization or a loose ideological alliance? What is it about this man that draws hundreds of thousands of followers and makes men willing to fly airplanes into buildings at his command? This definitive and engaging portrait gives the American public its first true, enduring insight into a man who has declared us his greatest enemy.