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The rise and fall of Osama bin Laden / Peter Bergen.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2021Copyright date: ©2021Edition: First Simon & Schuster hardcover editionDescription: xxx, 384 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781982170523
  • 1982170522
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Prologue: Hopes and dreams and fears -- Holy warrior. Sphinx without a riddle? ; Zealot ; Jihad ; Al-Qaeda -- War with the U.S. Radical ; "The head of the snake" ; A declaration of war ; The U.S. slowly grasps the threat ; The war begins ; The road to 9/11 -- On the run. Striking back ; The great escape ; Al-Qaeda revives ; The hunt ; A lion in winder ; Operation Neptune Spear ; After bin Laden.
Summary: "The world's leading expert on Osama bin Laden delivers for the first time the definitive biography of a man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century, and whose ideological heirs we continue to battle today"-- Provided by publisherSummary: Bergen sheds light on bin Laden's many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire, yet insisted his family live like paupers. He adored his wives and children, depending on two of his wives, both of whom had PhDs, to make important strategic decisions, yet he also brought ruin to his family. He was fanatically religious, yet willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam. He inspired deep loyalty yet, in the end, his bodyguards turned against him. In the end, bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound, far from the front lines of his holy war. Despite that unheroic denouement, his ideology lives on. Bergen's portrait of Osama will reveal for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists.-- adapted from jacket
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography BIN LADE OSAMA Available 33111010556260
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The world's leading expert on Osama bin Laden delivers for the first time the definitive biography of a man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century, and whose ideological heirs we continue to battle today.

In The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden , Peter Bergen provides the first reevaluation of the man responsible for precipitating America's long wars with al-Qaeda and its descendants, capturing bin Laden in all the dimensions of his life: as a family man, as a zealot, as a battlefield commander, as a terrorist leader, and as a fugitive. The book sheds light on his many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire, yet insisted his family live like paupers. He adored his wives and children, depending on two of his wives, both of whom had PhDs, to make important strategic decisions. Yet he also brought ruin to his family. He was fanatically religious, yet willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam. He inspired deep loyalty yet, in the end, his bodyguards turned against him. And while he inflicted the most lethal act of mass murder in United States history, he failed to achieve any of his strategic goals.

The lasting image we have of bin Laden in his final years is of an aging man with a graying beard watching old footage of himself, just another dad flipping through the channels with his remote. In the end, bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound, far from the front lines of his holy war. And yet despite that unheroic denouement, his ideology lives on. Thanks to exclusive interviews with family members and associates, and documents unearthed only recently, Bergen's portrait of Osama will reveal for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists.

"The world's leading expert on Osama bin Laden delivers for the first time the definitive biography of a man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century, and whose ideological heirs we continue to battle today"-- Provided by publisher

Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-363) and index.

Prologue: Hopes and dreams and fears -- Holy warrior. Sphinx without a riddle? ; Zealot ; Jihad ; Al-Qaeda -- War with the U.S. Radical ; "The head of the snake" ; A declaration of war ; The U.S. slowly grasps the threat ; The war begins ; The road to 9/11 -- On the run. Striking back ; The great escape ; Al-Qaeda revives ; The hunt ; A lion in winder ; Operation Neptune Spear ; After bin Laden.

Bergen sheds light on bin Laden's many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire, yet insisted his family live like paupers. He adored his wives and children, depending on two of his wives, both of whom had PhDs, to make important strategic decisions, yet he also brought ruin to his family. He was fanatically religious, yet willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam. He inspired deep loyalty yet, in the end, his bodyguards turned against him. In the end, bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound, far from the front lines of his holy war. Despite that unheroic denouement, his ideology lives on. Bergen's portrait of Osama will reveal for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists.-- adapted from jacket

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