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The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of al-Qaeda
On November 20, 1979, worldwide attention was focused on Tehran, where the Iranian hostage crisis was entering its third week. The same morning—the first of a new Muslim century—hundreds of gunmen stunned the world by seizing Islam’s holiest shrine, the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Armed with rifles that they had smuggled inside coffins, these men came from more than a dozen cou...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
September 18th 2007
by Doubleday
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nanto
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Punya yang terjemahannya. Menarik bila ternyata peristiwa ini baru belakangan saya tahu. Tadinya cuma tahu versi resmi yang sangat dipoles itu.
Masih cari data buku terjemahannya untuk diunggah di gudrids.
Yang menarik dari penceritaan Trofimov adalah struktur pasukan di Arab Saudi. Salah satu kelemahan penanganan adalah selain tidak terlatih, pasukan yang ada terpecah dalam puncak garis komando yang berbeda: Menteri Keamanan, Menteri Dalam Negeri, dan Kepala Intelijen. Par...more
Masih cari data buku terjemahannya untuk diunggah di gudrids.
Yang menarik dari penceritaan Trofimov adalah struktur pasukan di Arab Saudi. Salah satu kelemahan penanganan adalah selain tidak terlatih, pasukan yang ada terpecah dalam puncak garis komando yang berbeda: Menteri Keamanan, Menteri Dalam Negeri, dan Kepala Intelijen. Par...more
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While the events are dramatic enough to carry the book through- the seizure of Mecca was a momentous event in world history which hasn't gotten the attention it deserves- Trofimov's book suffers from some very poor copyediting and pacing issues. It did keep me reading all the way in- thanks, Trofimov, for making me almost miss work because I spent the day flipping the pages- but I was still left wanting more. The book's organization is also not as good as it should have been- the large sect...more
A so-so account of a fascinating chapter in history, an event whose ramifications shape our world today, and yet is quite unknown in most circles. One comes away from the story amazed at just how textured Islam is, quite in contrast to our usual conceptions of uniformity. The story tells of the 1979 capture of Mecca by radical Sunni Muslims, a takeover completely misunderstood by the West and deeply embarrassing to al Saud. The fallout from the event and other world events that year mark a decli...more
Probably would put this a bare notch below "The Looming Tower" in terms of good books on Al Qaeda's brand of Islamic extremism. The writing is quick and pulls you along, but the book's greatest virtue is that it reads like a thriller because it covers a little-known section of history during an incredibly tumultuous time period. Notably, Trofimov also excels at giving you just enough context that you're not confused without spending the first third of the book droning about events that...more
Talk about crazy religious cults. Heavens Gate got nothing on this group of Wahabbi waccos! These bearded fellows stormed out of the desert and took over the Great mosque in 1979. Complete with the appearance of the Mehdi, a burning American embassy in Pakistan, and a good old Saudi family disfunctionality. It's pretty wild when the Saudi royal family look like a bunch of liberals.
The book is a pretty straightforward journalistic account created over thirty years later by interviewin...more
The book is a pretty straightforward journalistic account created over thirty years later by interviewin...more
Journalist Trofimov s prior book, Faith At War, was a wide-ranging exploration of Islam in a dozen countries. While Islamist fundamentalism, particularly Wahhabism, and the Sunni-Shiite divide remain topics in his new book, The Siege of Mecca has a narrower focus. It is a generally well-paced exploration of the events surrounding and the ramifications of the November 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca Islam s holiest site by a group of heavily armed Islamist fundamentalists espous...more
This is a relatively short book about a specific event in 1979 where some Islamic fundamentalists took over the holiest shrine in Islam at Mecca. It was an eye opener for me as one who is not as familiar with some of the recent history going on in that part of the world. If you don't know much about the Middle East, then it will be harder to follow what is going on in this book. I found the last half to be more interesting than the first half as the author describes how this even marked the begi...more
This is the story of a raid by religious radicals, little known in the West, that succeeded in capturing the shrine in Mecca for several weeks. It's an interesting historical event, and because some of the same people and ideas would be instrumental later in the formation of al-Qaeda, and because the events of the siege took place simultaneously with other anti-Western events like the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the book makes for a reasonable primer in the recent...more
This book was shocking for me, not because of the sad events and stories it tells, but because of the fact that almost no one I know (including myself) knew about what happened in the holiest place on earth in the late 70's of the 20th century, which showed that history can be forgotten, or made forgotten as I suspect is the case with this incident.
It also explained to me the reason behind the heightened security measures I see in Al-Masjid Al-Haram, a place so holy, that even scaring ...more
It also explained to me the reason behind the heightened security measures I see in Al-Masjid Al-Haram, a place so holy, that even scaring ...more
It's not clear where all the details in this book came from given how the Saudi's have attempted to erase it from their history- part of the story comes from French and U.S. sources, and there is mention of a censored book, but were Saudi's interviewed on the condition of anonymity?
An A-12/SR-71 overflew the mosque during the siege and took pictures, I wonder if any of these pictures have been released to the public.
The author finds many faults with Carter's initial hand...more
An A-12/SR-71 overflew the mosque during the siege and took pictures, I wonder if any of these pictures have been released to the public.
The author finds many faults with Carter's initial hand...more
One of the episodes from "The Looming Tower" that struck me the most was the 1979 capture of the Grand Mosque in Mecca. In the midst of the hajj, when the Mosque was filled with worshipers from around the globe, a group of terrorists took the entire assembly hostage. The resulting siege lasted weeks and ended with a blood-bath of Saudi troops, hostages, and terrorists. Before I was even done with the "The Looming Tower" I started looking for a book about the incident.
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Absolutely gripping true story of when Islam's holy of holies, the mosque at Mecca, was overtaken by armed extremists in 1979. This event would set off bloody worldwide riots and influence Saudi Arabian and US policies for years to come. You can trace a lot of what is going with recent terrorist activities, like the rise of Bin Laden and Al Queda, to this event. Though non-fiction, the book is written like a suspense thriller who-done-it and provides many uh-huh moments.
masih penasaran sama sama buku ini, terjemahannya kadang ngalor ngidul, jadi pusing.. belum habis dibaca udah dilirik2 si babeh, alamat bakal lama balik ini mah.. sekarang lagi lupa di halaman berapa..
oya, sejauh yang saya baca, buku ini agak sentimen terhadap islam.. tapi saya juga belum cari tau lebih jauh sejarah 'kudeta mekkah' ini selain dari buku ini.. klu ada kesempatan mau tanya ke ustadz cerita sebenernya, mudah2an ada umur n baca bukunya udah khatam :D
oya, sejauh yang saya baca, buku ini agak sentimen terhadap islam.. tapi saya juga belum cari tau lebih jauh sejarah 'kudeta mekkah' ini selain dari buku ini.. klu ada kesempatan mau tanya ke ustadz cerita sebenernya, mudah2an ada umur n baca bukunya udah khatam :D
This book describes an all but forgotten two-week takeover of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by Islamic fundamentalists back in 1979. The take-over and resulting military clash was an embarrassment to the Royal family entrusted as guardians of Islams holiest shrines, and thus has been purged from historical accounts in Saudi Arabia. The author also describes how and why this lead to anti-American movements throughtout the Middle East. Partly to appease the fundamentalist movement in the Kingdom, t...more
Mengupas sisi paling kelam dalam sejarah modern kota Mekkah, ketika sekelompok teroris militan Wahhabi menduduki kompleks Masjidil Haram dan menyandera sejumlah jemaah, menewaskan setidaknya ratusan orang dan tentara Saudi dalam upaya pembebasannya. Teradikalisasi oleh Revolusi Iran 1979, tapi juga memusuhi kaum Syiah, kelompok ini -- yang diklaim penulisnya sebagai cikal bakal Al-Qaida -- mampu mengguncang kemapanan rejim monarki Saudi yang juga mengklaim berideologi Wahhabi dan penjaga tempat-...more
Mark Sequeira
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Awesome book. I remembered this story but the media had got it al wrong and therefore I remembered it all wrong. Fascinating story of how yesterday's fundamentalists/Wahabis took control of the holy city in Saudi Arabia. Fast, easy reading and very exciting story. If you like 'Black Hawk Down' type books and are interested in current events (read Islam and world affairs) this is a good book.
A riveting, journalistic account of the much overlooked Juhayman uprising in Mecca in 1979 that brought blood and warfare to the holy sanctuary of the Ka'ba. The book brings forth numerous aspects of the incident, from its millennial, Mahdi-ist overtones to its historic and current geopolitical implications.
Not necessarily well-written, but the events are dramatic and, most importantly, real. The only reason I picked up the book was to find out more about this shadowy historical event which no one seems to know much about. It turned out to be graver than I had imagined, its significance shocking.
This is one of the very few books that describe the events in makkah during the Juhaiman uprising.
The writer has spend enough time gathering details, but unfortunately fails to hide his left wing orientation which had negative effect on the way he discusses details about Islam and Saudi Arabia.
The writer has spend enough time gathering details, but unfortunately fails to hide his left wing orientation which had negative effect on the way he discusses details about Islam and Saudi Arabia.
An absolutely thrilling book by a very talented writer. Trofimov's short but punchy chapters are a treasure-trove of almost unbelievable (and often grotesque) descriptions of this unprecedented event in Islamic history that has had such an impact on global events ever since.
Interesting history of a violent Islamic fundamentalist takeover of Mecca in 1979. Thought provoking background to some of the complex events in the middle east today. Sean made me read this (it was his summer reading for honors history) - and I'm glad he did.
I can't begin to explain how amazing this book is!! Although I've known about this incident breifly I did not realise how it did affect today's political decisions.
It tells a story of an event that happened in 1979. Makkah was seiged by a group of "extremists" who wanted to purify the land of Islam, Saudi. The writer wanted to link this event with a lot of what is happening today.
Reading this, just confirmed the idea I had of how difficult to create balance in Saudi. A...more
It tells a story of an event that happened in 1979. Makkah was seiged by a group of "extremists" who wanted to purify the land of Islam, Saudi. The writer wanted to link this event with a lot of what is happening today.
Reading this, just confirmed the idea I had of how difficult to create balance in Saudi. A...more
This book is a masterful work - easy to read and very infromative about the birth of alQaeda - you may never really know just how incompetent the Carter administration was in dealing with foreign policy - after reading this book there is no doubt. The instability we are dealing with now - including the terrorist acts that lead up to 911 clearly have their foundation in the blundering our nation's chief executive and staff were reponsible for in 1979. The Saudi's are not blameless either.
The author is a journalist from the WSJ so he has a definite conservative point of view (the Bush administration's decisions w/ respect to the war on terror are predominantly traced back to the Carter and Clinton administrations) but if you don't mind reading someone's work who has that point of view it's an absorbing informative read that gives a quick history of the origin of the split b/w the Shiites and Sunnis, as well as an easy to follow reporting of the interrelationship b/w the Iran host...more
Buku ini membantu "melihat" dari sisi lain seperti apa sebenarnya (akar) konflik Timur Tengah dan relevansinya dengan gembar-gembor terorism...moreBuku ini membantu "melihat" dari sisi lain seperti apa sebenarnya (akar) konflik Timur Tengah dan relevansinya dengan gembar-gembor terorisme dunia. A must have!
An important and under-reported topic to be sure, but the book's hyperventilating tone, stilted, pre-ordained conclusions, and occasionally weak connective tissue ("the birth of al-Qaeda" portion is less than 10 pages and only tenuously connected to the siege) get in the way.
Read this!! A critical 1979 turning point in the history of Makkah has been hid by Saudi government. Explains a LOT about their practices in relation to Islam. A fast paced, well-researched read.
I would recommend this book to anyone regardless of one's level of interest, or lack thereof in the Middle East. Trofimov's prose are engrossing and throughly enjoyable.
Awesome book. Reads like a novel. I didn't even know this event had occurred. Shows how dangerous fundamentalist Muslim ideology can be.
Trofimov's political analysis is pretty thin and prone to sweeping generalizations. The event is interesting and some of his arguments held up, but his description of action read like someone wishing, oh so badly, to write the next Black Hawk Down, but he can't pull it off.
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Yaroslav Trofimov is an award-winning author and journalist. He has been a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal since 1999, covering the Middle East, Africa and, recently South and Southeast Asia.
He shared in the Overseas Press Club award for foreign reporting on India,and won the SAJA Daniel Pearl award for the outstanding story on South Asia, among other honors.
More about Yaroslav Trofimov...
He shared in the Overseas Press Club award for foreign reporting on India,and won the SAJA Daniel Pearl award for the outstanding story on South Asia, among other honors.
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