The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

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The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

4.34 of 5 stars 4.34 · rating details · 6,206 ratings · 966 reviews

UPDATED AND WITH A NEW AFTERWORD

National Book Award Finalist

A Time, Newsweek, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year

A gripping narrative that spans five decades, The Looming Tower explains in unprecedented detail the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the intelligence failures that culminated in the a...more

Paperback, 551 pages

Published August 21st 2007 by Vintage (Random House) (first published January 1st 2006)

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Feb 06, 2012 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: they-made-me-do-it, crime-and-punishment, dicklits, groups-of-people, here-is-new-york, kind-of-depressing, leetle-boys, wish-i-owned

Lawrence Wright is one of those guys who could easily put novelists out of business, and this book made me question why I read fiction at all. The locations, characters, and events in The Looming Tower are so much more fascinating than anything an author could invent, and the fact that they're real makes them seem important in a way fiction almost never does. I loved this book, and my picayune quibbles -- a few recurring awkward sentence constructions, inexplicably referring to domestic terroris...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Paul rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-will-teach-us-nothing

You can be nerdy and geeky and boring about all manner of things, railway timetables, cricket, fine wine, Marvel comics, Beatles flipsides, the confectionary you used to scoff when you were little (ah the nostalgic sweetmeats of childhood, how much of a lump in your throat were they then and still are now), campy 70s sitcoms, Jean-Marie Straub movies, the best places to go backpacking in Andalucia, bootlegs of the Velvet Underground, and so on boringly and tediously.

Turns out you can be geeky an...more

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Sep 27, 2007 brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

there are those books that make our heads explode; that make every minute of the day a veritable chinese water torture of having to wait for the chance to get the hell home and read some more; those books that live inside us all through the day; those books that make us excited at having to take a crap just so that we can shut the door behind us (or not) and sneak in a few pages; those books which cause lots of impatient horn-honking at red lights from drivers irritated we're reading at the fuck...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Eric_W rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-historiography

Well, I finally found my notes and got this review finished - long overdue.

For all the energy, lives and treasure we have devoted to Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s important to remember that they had nothing to do with 9/11 which became the excuse for our actions rather than the proximate rationale. We are now in a war that would appear to have literally no end, this “war of terror,” one that any sane person who recently traveled on an airplane can see the terrorists have won as we meekly surrender...more Well, I finally found my notes and got this review finished - long overdue.

For all the energy, lives and treasure we have devoted to Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s important to remember that they had nothing to do with 9/11 which became the excuse for our actions rather than the proximate rationale. We are now in a war that would appear to have literally no end, this “war of terror,” one that any sane person who recently traveled on an airplane can see the terrorists have won as we meekly surrender our civil rights to government agencies who now can tap phones, examine library records, collect data, cavity search, etc., in the name of some illusionary sense of safety, a theater of the absurd. In addition they convinced us , this tiny group of delusionary men (no women), to send thousands of troops to a hostile land and environment where they could be more easily picked off.

Wright traces the rise of anti-semitism in the MIddle East to the influence of Naziism during WW II and especially afterwards when many Nazis fled to Egypt for sanctuary from the victorious allies. For centuries Jews had lived quite peacefully with their Muslim neighbors, but several events fueled a return to a fundamentalist, Islamicist view. The Six-Day war was used by these in a rather tortured logic to validate their position, i.e. that God had favored the Jews because Muslims had wandered away from the true Islam and the Caliphate. (This kind of perverted thinking is not unique to Islamists. It’s rampant among fundamentalist Christian groups such as the Westboro Baptists who insist that US military deaths are caused by God’s displeasure with current U.S. policies with regard to homosexuality. Other examples abound.) The war, which an overwhelming victory for Israel, humiliated Egypt, where, following Nassar’s death, Sadat needed to appeal to the fundamentalists to strengthen his government; so he released many who had been jailed from prison. Not a smart move.

The actions of the Egyptians, following the assassination of Sadat, solidified a diverse, incoherent movement. He flatly states that 9/11 was born in the torture chambers of the Egyptian government which created an appetite for revenge and turned moderates into extremists, not to mention destroyed any notion that western society actually practiced the ideals of freedom and human rights they espoused. Communism, Zionism, and Imperialism were all lumped together as the great western enemy of Islam and the only solution was to use violence to try to create an Islamic theocracy. By throwing all of the anti-government groups together in prison, many individuals and groups which had been unaware of the other’s existence were now thrown together and molded into a more coherent movement. Torture was an instrument of humiliation, revenge and punishment as well as information gathering and Ayman Zawahiri emerged as the new leader of the group.

I was astonished how intertwined the Bin Laden family, wealthy beyond measure from lucrative construction contracts, was with Saudi government and culture. That said, Osama comes across as a pathetic little man whom, for some bizarre reason, we have inflated to mythic proportions. He left a long trail of words that Wright has used effectively to build a comprehensive picture of the man that Afghans, in the fight against the Russians, thought was rather pathetic, but who was adopted by the United States and supported. Another example of how certain actions taken for a variety of reasons can have long-range negative effects. How one might ever develop the perspicuity to avoid making such mistakes remains a mystery to me.

If there are any heroes in this book, it’s the field officers of the FBI and one John O’Neill (who tragically died in the World Trade Center.) They had been concerned that the Islamic fundamentalists would try something spectacular but got little support from Washington. One Minneapolis supervisor, admonished for his reports and concerns, simply said back to the bosses in DC that he was simply “ “trying to keep someone from taking a plane and crashing into the World Trade Center.” This in August of 2001

Wright has done a magnificent job of melding detail and the broader picture to present a better understanding of why we are where we are today.The title, drawn from the Koran is ironic in light of Osama’s killing by American troops: ““Wherever you are, death will find you, Even in the looming tower,” a quote from one of Osama’s many videos.

After-note: Read a couple of the one-star reviews on Amazon to get a feel for psychotic thinking.

Previously written: "Therefore when you induce others to construct a formation while you yourself are formless, then you are concentrated while the opponent is divided... Therefore the consummation of forming an army is to arrive at formlessness. When you have no form, undercover espionage cannot find out anything, intelligence cannot form a strategy." Sun Tzu, 500 B.C.

For some reason, I failed to get very far into this book and was reminded of it when I read an excellent column recently at Salon (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/201...) regarding the costs of our obsessiveness with regard to airline security. I was reminded that Wright discussed Al Qaeda strategy at some length. It was quite simple. Bin Laden knew he couldn't maintain an attack on U.S. soil so he needed to get us to come to him. And he has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. We send troops and treasure over to him to be whittled away at. His first attempt to draw us in was the U.S.S. Cole; Clinton failed to fall into the trap as did Reagan after the 200 Marines were killed in Lebanon. Bush swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker. Iraq and Afghanistan have cost more than a trillion dollars of borroweded money in the first unfunded war in our history. And we spend more hundreds of billions searching for the latest object in someone's crotch for the illusion of security. Wait till someone detonates a small bomb in a TSA security line or at a McDonald's. We will then lose all our freedoms in the name of maintaining an empire we cannot afford.
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Jan 18, 2013 Hadrian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, nonfiction, war, for-class

"Wherever you are, death will find you, even in the looming tower."
-The Qu'ran, Sura 4:78

Hiraba (حِرابة), the Arabic word for terror, piracy, or unlawful warfare. To be punished with the strictest penalties.

SEE the young men in their white tunics go out, and charge from the trenches against Soviet tanks, and the suited FBI and CIA men squabble on matters of 'jurisdiction' and 'sensitive information', and self-appointed holy men and saviors meditate in caves on how to save the words of prophets...more

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Nov 05, 2007 Bart rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any American

What a great surprise this book was. I first read about The Looming Tower (the title comes from the Koranic verse Osama bin Laden used as a coded message to the 9/11 hijackers) in a number of political op/ed columns. Finally, though, it was conservative writer Jonah Goldberg's heavy reliance on The Looming Tower for an L.A. Times column that sent me looking for the book.

Lawrence Wright's treatment of the jihadist movement is thorough to the point of being almost sympathetic. It goes deeply into...more What a great surprise this book was. I first read about The Looming Tower (the title comes from the Koranic verse Osama bin Laden used as a coded message to the 9/11 hijackers) in a number of political op/ed columns. Finally, though, it was conservative writer Jonah Goldberg's heavy reliance on The Looming Tower for an L.A. Times column that sent me looking for the book.

Lawrence Wright's treatment of the jihadist movement is thorough to the point of being almost sympathetic. It goes deeply into what Egyptian interrogation methods created so many Ayman al-Zawahiris. It explores the history of oil wealth in Saudi Arabia and an immigrant construction entrepreneur named Mohammed bin Laden whose seventeenth child, of fifty-four, would grow up to become the world's most ambitious terrorist.

It also walks readers through the tangled relationship between the United States and Afghanistan and the Taliban and al Qaeda and, yes, Saddam Hussein, and the Northern Alliance and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

It is fairly merciless in its treatment of the American bureaucracy that created figurative walls between the CIA and the FBI. It makes a somewhat cartoonish hero of an FBI agent named John O'Neill and a level-headed assessment of Richard Clarke.

This was the book that led to the interesting and needlessly controversial two-day miniseries called "The Road to 9/11". That series, like this book, points an accusatory finger at no one American, not Bill Clinton and not George W. Bush.

Why not? Well, because the book is too sophisticated for the mindless, thirty-second shout-a-thons that have passed for political discourse on both the political left and right since 9/11.

Anyone who is interested in an intermediate-level analysis of what made Osama bin Laden so notorious (and his rise has many parallels to that of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna) is well advised to read this book. At 475 pages, it is exhaustive but not exhausting.

Anyone who has "strong" feelings about what caused the rise of al Qaeda (and be warned, the network is a lot smaller than one might think) on the world stage should read this book before the next time he raises his voice for/against a US politician.

The Looming Tower is not "complicated" (the cop-out word self-proclaimed intellectuals use at every turn) but detailed. It is not inciting but insightful. It is also highly recommended to any curious American.(less)

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Jul 26, 2007 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, american-foreign-policy

Another great narrative non-fiction book. Wright really gets to the heart of Al-Qaeda, specifically its leaders and predecessors. The most suprising thing, to me, about these radical Muslim leaders, is that their hatred for the West, according to Wright, stems more from a moral indignation than politics. I always shuddered when I heard the neocons say that "They hurt us because they hate the way we live." It turns out that may have more truth to it than I thought.

"The Looming Tower" begins with...more

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Sep 19, 2007 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is really worth reading, even if you think you've had your fill of Al Queda, 9-11 et al. The histories of Bin Laden and Zawahiri are interesting and surprising, and this book really lays out how the CIA and FBI blew their chances to stop 9/11. If you're not already disgusted by them, this will get you there. Despite its depressing subject matter, the book is actually a pleasure to read, because the writing and story-telling are so good. This dude has knowledge!

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Jul 16, 2010 John and Kris rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites

Lawrence Wright has written an accessible masterpiece detailing the rise of fundamentalist Islamic terror. Rarely do books hold up to lofty expectations; I highly recommend The Looming Tower.

If, as Churchill famously said, “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” then what is the infinitely more complex Middle East to the West as we attempt to understand the motivations of a language, religion, and culture most know almost nothing about? Wright builds an engaging cornerstone fo...more Lawrence Wright has written an accessible masterpiece detailing the rise of fundamentalist Islamic terror. Rarely do books hold up to lofty expectations; I highly recommend The Looming Tower.

If, as Churchill famously said, “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” then what is the infinitely more complex Middle East to the West as we attempt to understand the motivations of a language, religion, and culture most know almost nothing about? Wright builds an engaging cornerstone for anyone interested in recent events without making broad, sweeping generalizations that are either clearly wrong or too simple. Wright, mercifully, does not fall into the finger-pointing traps and soap box rants that plague most recently published books attempting to bring into focus the events of the past two decades.

In The Looming Tower Lawrence Wright expertly and carefully attempts to unfold the riddle of extreme fundamentalist takfiri Islamic terror as related to jihad on the West, specifically the rise of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda network and, now, its offshoots. A gifted writer with an eye for the memorable detail, Wright enlightens with so many gems that I will not even attempt to sort my Kindle Highlighted Notes into a coherent body. If one is looking for an in depth look at the 9/11 attack I would recommend the 9/11 Commission Report or 102 Minutes, but for anyone looking for a peek inside the evolution of modern terror The Looming Tower is a must read.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, as American cruise missiles rained down on the Taliban and al-Qaeda’s known encampments, Wright mentions the fate of Azza al-Zawahiri, the wife of now dead terrorist Ayman al-Zawahiri, who didn’t know that her husband was a terrorist until after the 9/11 attacks. Azza and her children, including the mentally handicapped Aisha who was helpless without her mother’s care, attempted to escape to safety:

“As the men of al-Qaeda were making their stand in Tora Bora, their families decided to head to Pakistan. A large convoy formed and they made a slow drive through the mountains. Azza and her children stopped in Gardez. That night there were two thundering explosions, so great that some of the children vomited and others had diarrhea. In the morning, one of Maha’s sons went to check on the Zawahiris. He found that the house they were in had been struck. The cement roof had collapsed, pinning Azza underneath. The rescuers had found little Aisha injured but still alive, and they set her outside on a bed while they tried to save Azza. She was still alive, but she refused to be excavated because of her fear that men would see her face. Eventually, her cries stopped. When the rescuers finally returned to take care of the child, they discovered that she had frozen to death.”

Easily explained and simple, the Middle East in not. Strangely, an Emily Dickinson line I recently read (clearly by accident) kept bubbling to the surface of the stagnant pond that is my mind as I read The Looming Tower:

I many times thought that peace had come,
When peace was far away

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Jul 24, 2009 أشرف فقيه rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

يتتبع الكتاب (البرج المشيّد) قصة القاعدة منذ بدايات التنظيمات الجهادية في مصر، رابطاً بين نشأتها وفكر سيد قطب مروراً بتنظيمات الجهاد والتكفير والهجرة والجماعة الإسلامية. طبعاً كان هناك تركيز على قصة حياة أسامة بن لادن. وما يميز السرد أنه مقسم لأكثر من بيوغرافي أو قصة منفصلة ومتداخلة معاً. قصة أسرة ابن لادن. قصة الصحوة بالمملكة، قصة الجماعات الإسلامية في مصر، قصة (جون أونيل) محقق الإف بي آي المسؤول عن ملاحقة ابن لادن، قصة أفغانستان، وعلاقة أميركا بذلك كله. ما يميز الكتاب هو ربطه المتقن والسلس بين...more يتتبع الكتاب (البرج المشيّد) قصة القاعدة منذ بدايات التنظيمات الجهادية في مصر، رابطاً بين نشأتها وفكر سيد قطب مروراً بتنظيمات الجهاد والتكفير والهجرة والجماعة الإسلامية. طبعاً كان هناك تركيز على قصة حياة أسامة بن لادن. وما يميز السرد أنه مقسم لأكثر من بيوغرافي أو قصة منفصلة ومتداخلة معاً. قصة أسرة ابن لادن. قصة الصحوة بالمملكة، قصة الجماعات الإسلامية في مصر، قصة (جون أونيل) محقق الإف بي آي المسؤول عن ملاحقة ابن لادن، قصة أفغانستان، وعلاقة أميركا بذلك كله. ما يميز الكتاب هو ربطه المتقن والسلس بين القصص التي نعرفها كلنا. بما فيها العمليات الشهيرة ضد الأهداف الأميركية ودور أميركا في السعودية وأفغانستان والسودان والبلقان وإيران.. إلخ. مع حقائق مدهشة بخصوص الأفغان العرب والجهاديين. ستخرج من الكتاب بانطباعين: أولاً أن أسامة بن لادن قد تم استغلاله من قبل الجماعات المصرية (بالذات الظواهري) . أنه قد تم التعامل معه كمجرد مصدر تمويل لمشروعهم هم ثم ولما فشل هذاالمشروع قاموا بتبني فكرته المجنونة (القاعدة) وتجييرها لصالح رؤاهم هم. هذا لا يبرئه لكنه ينزع عنه معظم هالة العظمة التي تحوطه. ثانياً: يحمل الكتاب على أجهزة الأمن الأميركية ويكشف مقدار البيروقراطية والعلاقة التنافسية الصبيانية بين رؤوسه والتي سيطرت عليها والتي قادتها في النهاية للفشل الذريع في تفادي أحداث ١١ سبتمبر برغم كل المؤشرات الواضحة وبالرغم من تحذيرات الاستخبارات السعودية بالذات.. اليمين الأميركي المتطرف والمحافظون الجدد ليسوا سوى حلقة صغيرة وأخيرة في سلسلة طويلة من الأحداث والشخوص. الكتاب حافل أيضاً بتفاصيل علاقات الأشخاص بالأحداث.. جمال خاشقجي وجمال خليفة وتركي الفيصل وحسن الترابي وغيرهم كثير. هذا كتاب لا يكشف أسراراً لكنه يقدم رؤية شاملة للصورة.(less)

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Nov 30, 2008 Bonnie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I borrowed this book from my brother. He and Loni read it during a family reunion in Wellfleet in the summer of 2006. They both raved about it.

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 is a rare book. Wright spent five years doing research and interviews. How did 9/11 happen? How close were we to preventing it? How have the tenets of Islam been so hideously and deliberately misinterpreted by people? How is it that the west has become a target of these terrorists?

Lawrence Wright documents...more

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Feb 11, 2008 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anybody.

The author spent five years interviewing people throughout the Middle East and United States, examining the events leading up to September 11th, 2001, and portions of this book have appeared in The New Yorker over the past couple of years. The overall book is a rare combination of gripping story-telling and thoughtful perspective.

Where the book really shines is the personal, political and religious insight that it gives into motivations of the terrorists, as well as the American bureaucracy and...more

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Sep 29, 2007 Jojo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People interested in current events

Shelves: non-fiction

This book tells the story of Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri and the founding of al Qaeda. The narrative is compelling and the book is obviously well researched. I particularly appreciated the parts of the book that provided insight into the backgrounds and day-to-day lives of the jihadists and their families.

My only substantive complaint about the book -- and it is a fairly significant problem for me -- is the lack of footnoting and citation. Even newspaper articles provide more information...more This book tells the story of Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri and the founding of al Qaeda. The narrative is compelling and the book is obviously well researched. I particularly appreciated the parts of the book that provided insight into the backgrounds and day-to-day lives of the jihadists and their families.

My only substantive complaint about the book -- and it is a fairly significant problem for me -- is the lack of footnoting and citation. Even newspaper articles provide more information about the information sources and cite sources that provide the basis for interpreting events in one way as opposed to another. The book does have a bibliography, but without the bibliographic references being linked to specific quotes or passages, it's nothing more than a list of things that could be read if the reader has a lot of time on their hands. Ample footnoting and citation, might have made the book less readable for some readers and the author seems to have opted for greater readability over greater credibility. Many books on far less serious topics provide more reference to sources within the actual narrative -- even the Diana Chronicles offered more.

This book is very well-written and the story that the author tells makes so much sense and is so persuassive, that it is tempting to accept every interpretation and extrapolation as absolute fact. If the topic of this book were not one of the most important issues of our time, I would probably do just that. Instead, I am left wishing that the book had been twice as long and skewed a little more toward a journalistic or academic format, and a little less toward mass consumption readability. I comfort myself with the hope that perhaps more people actually finished (not just purchased) the book because of its readability and that there are that many more people in the world who have some insight and understanding what's going on in the world today.

My objections aside, this is a very good book and I do recommend it. (less)

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Apr 15, 2012 Darran Mclaughlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A brilliantly written, extremely well researched book into the origins of Al Qaeda, the dawn of the clash of civilisations we are living through and the journey leading to 9/11. 11 years later we are still living with the consequences. I've been watching Homeland on TV and I thought I should learn more about the causes of this situation. Some of the most striking things I drew from the book are the understanding that bureacratic, inter-departmental conflicts caused intelligence failures which le...more

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May 27, 2008 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an excellent book. It answers the question that so many people were asking after 9/11: why do they hate us so much? It also traces the development of Al Qaeda and highlights the influence of many of the major radical Islamist leaders.

Lawrence Wright conducted an enormous number of interviews with friends and family of Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahiri and many of the other notorious Al Qaeda members. He cultivated relationships with CIA, FBI, White House and other U.S. officials. He als...more

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Mar 18, 2009 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, non-fiction, pulitzer

I don't know what the competition was, but The Looming Tower was a worthy winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Wright traces the rise of fundamental Islam from its beginning, surprisingly, in the United States, to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Sudan. He reveals a surprising history packed with both incompetence and frightening competence, complete belief and a lack of thinking for the future, explains how economic, political, and social conditions in the Middle East result in a soc...more

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May 03, 2009 Leslie Carmichael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a fascinating book. BinLaden was for years a very fanatical pious, very modest man who was a good manager and also very wealthy.He never lived like a wealthy man. But the Arabs he hired for the Afghan jihad were not trained and not strong and not capable. Its a wonder he got anywhere - but he had the money. Wahaziri was the man with the plans. BinLaden is a dreamer who wants the whole world to come under the hand of fundamental Islam. He has hated the Americans since he was small child.

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Jan 15, 2009 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

I learned in this book about the genesis of Al Queda and the people and agencies within our own government that were on to them pretty early and might have caught up in time were it not for some truly dysfunctional relationships between the FBI, CIA, and other intelligence and law enforcement activites. Looking back, I'm going to assume that our relavent government activities have learned some painful lessons and adapted and overcome those early dysfunctions at least to the level required to mor...more

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May 14, 2008 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book shortly after it was released in '06 and it quickly became the cornerstone of my top five books* you must read to understand American's enemy in the world today. A wonderful and engaging book that I can't recommend highly enough.

*the other four book are:
America Alone - Mark Steyn
While Europe Slept - Bruce Bawer
The Pentagon's New Map - Thomas P.M. Barnett
Guests Of The Ayatollah - Mark Bowden

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Apr 30, 2013 Jason Dearen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For anyone interested in the origins of Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, this book is a must read. Where Steve Coll's brilliant Ghost Wars spent a lot of time on the U.S. intelligence establishment's bungling of foreign policy, which helped create and sustain Al Qaeda, Wright's book focuses on the men who created and popularized radical Islam, making it possible for bin Laden to sell his global jihad against the U.S.

Wright's writing is my favorite style of prose. Never purple, he's a writer who doe...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: us-history, saudi-arabia, yemen, terrorism, pulitzer-prize-winning-author

This is a highly readable account of the events leading up to the 9/11 tragedy. It details the activities of it's masterminds and the status of the determined men and women in the US who were putting the pieces together. There is an impressive number of interviews with key players and informed bystanders. While this has been a well covered event, still, without Wright's diligence much of what he presents could have been lost to history.

I've recently read Steve Coll's The Bin Ladens: An Arabian F ...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Jake Mandel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To start, I will say that this is my favorite book. It's so comprehensive, so intelligent, so detailed and so well written that it should be in the Library of Congress. To start, I thought that the book would portray Muslims as evil people, but The Looming Tower does not demonize Islam. To the contrary, it shows that mainstream Islam has struggled against extremists spawned by the post World War II writings of militant Islam jihadist founder Sayyid Qutb. It provides a brief but effective summary...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Christian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Finally read "The Looming Tower" and finished it this morning at 4 a.m. No wonder this book won the Pulitzer Prize and was named one of the best books of 2006. This is definitely in the top-10 nonfiction books to read before you die category. Lawrence Wright is authoritative as he is an amazing writer.

Things I've learned:

* How much Al Qaeda really propped themselves up in all aspects of their organization/accomplishments. Had Bin Laden not have so much money, who knows if they would've had so...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Anthony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fbi, history, islam, non-fiction

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Paperback)
The Looming Tower (TLT) is a most worthwhile read. I have read many books on al-Qaeda and the bombing of the Twin Towers and all have given me a broad base understanding of the thinking behind the jihad movement. TLT provided me an insight into the mind thinking of Osama Bin Laden and the genius behind his diabolical thought process.

Interestingly, most of the books I have read dealt very lightly on the radical origins in Egypt, the exc...more The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Paperback)
The Looming Tower (TLT) is a most worthwhile read. I have read many books on al-Qaeda and the bombing of the Twin Towers and all have given me a broad base understanding of the thinking behind the jihad movement. TLT provided me an insight into the mind thinking of Osama Bin Laden and the genius behind his diabolical thought process.

Interestingly, most of the books I have read dealt very lightly on the radical origins in Egypt, the exception being the Muslim Brotherhood. The "Brotherhood" via the fatwa issued by Abdullah Azzam seems to be the genesis for the version of Jihad brought to al-Qaeda by one of Azzam's disciples, namely Ayman al-Zawahiri. Doctor Zawahiri, brilliant for his medical expertise brought the fundamental teachings of Azzam and married it with the thinking of bin-Laden. While Zawahiri's goal was to make an Islamic state in Egypt it was initially incongruent with bin-Laden's goal of fatwa and jihad against the United States of America.
TLT provides great insight into the development of the thinking of these fundamental Jihadists and shows beyond any doubt there commitment to destruction of the infidels where ever they may be or whomever they may be. TLT gives a stunning glimpse of the struggle against the Soviets in Afghanistan and the development of America as the great "Satan".

While the study of bin-laden is one of contradictions, his zealotry is remarkably consistent.
TLT does not only view the efforts and successes of jihadists, it also points out in very painful terms the folly of the intelligence services of the United States in trying to understand and coordinate countermeasures against the plans of the new jihadists.
Having known and worked with John O'Neil of the FBI and having read the book "The Man Who Warned America" by Murray Weiss I understood some of the demons that haunted O'Neil who died in the World Trade Center. TLT gets into some of the very specific battles between the CIA and NSA and how information with held allowed 911 to succeed.

TLT is a must read for anyone wanting to understand some of the "whys" of the tragedy of 911. The book was extremely well written and was at times "a page turner". The Arab names are sometimes awkward to follow but perseverance in following along will broaden your understanding of many of the Islamic terms that have become a part of our language and understanding of this malignant thinking that is holding Islam hostage. (less)

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Oct 04, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Looming Tower is essential reading for anyone that wants to understand what happened on 9/11 as well as the rise of radical Islam. It is a very readable book, although it is easy to get lost in all the arabic names and it was somewhat difficult to keep all the names straight. The author includes a glossary of names in the back to help with this problem. While this is an oustanding book, it is not a complete picture in terms of explaning how things got to the point where America became Al-Qae...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While the book is accused of being politically motivated in that its critics suggest the author blames Pres. Clinton for being too busy with Monica Lewinsky to protect the country, that isn't what this book intends to say at all.

What the politically-detached reader will find is that there was a shift in American mentality: not only affecting leadership, but perhaps the majority of the people. Nobody believed anything like it was even possible, and so the warnings were ignored or perhaps never e...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Johnrh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I listened to the audiobook.

Audio: Excellent. Clear, well-enunciated, easy to understand. Authentic pronunciations of the many Arabic names and places (as far as I know). To my ears the narrator has a North American English accent (Canadian or America).

Content: Riveting... Sobering... Chilling... A thoroughly detailed history of modern Radical Islam and Islamic terrorism from the 1940's through 9/11/2001. Despite the obvious culmination in 9/11 I'd say 90% of the book is spent on the 40's throug...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Aaron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is hard to imagine a more meticulously-researched, and chilling, story coming out about how 9/11 occurred. Wright does a superb job of weaving all of the various elements and intricate story lines of Al-qaeda and the jihad movement to show how bin laden constructed a cohesive and destructive global terrorist organization. The number of instances where just one small thing - literally a different path down a road or someone showing a picture of a suspected terrorist to someone else - could hav...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

Even though it's five years old, this is probably the most important book you will ever read about 9/11. It only has a small section on the actual attack. The bulk of the book is about the rise of Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and the frustrating bureaucratic rules that kept key information away from the people who might have prevented the attack. The CIA does not come off well in this portrayal.

Having read it, I feel I have a good read on Osama bin Laden. Without him, the Jihadists would probabl...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Stephanie added it

As I read this book, I was constantly reminded of John Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven. In both cases, the authors attempt to explain a single event by giving an entire comprehensive history of a religious movement. The difference, for me, is that I know enough about Mormonism that I could make a decent assessment of when Krakauer was treating the mainstream LDS church and its radical offshoots fairly and when he was simply stating his own bias. I do not know enough about Islam to make thi...more

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About Lawrence Wright

Lawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, screenwriter, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. He is a graduate of Tulane University, and for two years taught at the American University in Cairo in Egypt.

Wright graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School (Dallas, Texas) in 1965 and, in 2009...more

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