| Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam Contributor(s): Burke, Jason (Author) |
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ISBN: 1850436665 ISBN-13: 9781850436669 Publisher: I. B. Tauris & Company OUR PRICE: $16.75 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2004 * Not available - Not in print at this time *Annotation: Award-winning reporter Jason Burke shows how the threat from Islamic terrorism comes not from a single criminal mastermind, or even from one group. In this revealing account, he characterizes it is a broad movement with profound roots in the politics, societies and history of the Islamic world. Using hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, Burke shows how "Al-Qaeda" is a convenient label applied misleadingly to a diverse, disorganized global movement dedicated to fighting a "cosmic battle" with the West. This is the definitive account of the mysterious organization, retelling its story from scratch and challenging many myths that threaten the very foundations of the "War on Terror." |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Terrorism - Religion | Islam - General |
| Dewey: 303.625 |
| Physical Information: 0.98" H x 5.16" W x 7.78" (0.69 lbs) 400 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Islamic |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: On a hot summer's day in 1996 a plane carrying Osama bin Laden and a few friends and family landed at a runway just outside the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The Saudi-born Islamic activist had little equipment, few followers and minimal local support. Yet within five years he had built an organisation that was to carry out the most shocking and devastating terrorist attack in history. 'Al-Qaeda' is now the most over-used and misunderstood term in the media. In Arabic, it is simply an abstract noun, meaning 'resource', 'network' or 'base'. In the West, it symbolises the greatest threat to global security: though its Afghan training camps have now been reduced to dust, no one believes that al-Qaeda was destroyed with them. But what is al-Qaeda? Is it a disciplined, motivated, structured terrorist organisation led by a single criminal mastermind or no more than an idea, a language in which angry young Muslim men can articulate their rage? Bin Laden's aim to provoke conflict between militant Islam and the West appears closer to fulfilment than ever. But is al-Qaeda the catalyst of this conflict, or merely a symbol of it? Drawing on his unparalleled experience Jason Burke provides |
Contributor Bio(s): Burke, Jason: - Jason Burke is a prize-winning Chief Reporter for The Observer (U.K.) and the bestselling author of Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam (2004) and On the Road to Kandahar (2007). |