Brilliantly written, compelling and highly original, The Looming Tower is the first book to tell the full story of Al Qaeda from its roots up to 9/11. Drawing on astonishing interviews and first-hand sources, it investigates the extraordinary group of idealogues behind this organization - and those who tried to stop them. Wright examines such figures such as Sayyid Qutb, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama Bin Laden. He interweaves their stories with world events of the time, such as the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the first attack on the World Trade Centre. Overall it reveals the complex origins of Al-Qaeda's hatred of the West and the seeds of the 9/11 atrocity.
Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, now with a new foreword covering new events such as the death of Osama Bin Laden.