So, did this account of the long wind-up to 9/11 “read like fiction,” as one of the blurbs proclaims? Well, there was a plot and strong narrative. There was intrigue. Far-flung settings, yes, and a list of characters long enough to rival "War and Peace." But at the same time, as engaging as it was, this book was above all informative, and I doubt there’s anyone who turns to fiction to be informed about events and historic developments. In no way to knock it, but “David Copperfield” it ain’t.

I really did appreciate this book, and (unlike fiction) it’s because I learned a lot, without getting bored in the bargain.The author has done some exhaustive homework and smoothly weaved together the story of how al-Qaeda came to be. I'd recommend this to anyone who can read.

Say what you like about motivation, political betrayal, greed, poverty, how religious fundamentalism borders on insanity, I am going to stand firmly on the side that says mass murder is wrong, no matter how justified you think you are and no matter which side you’re on.

This book was very good and very interesting, but I want to do something different and do a double review. I like to read several books at a time and it just so happened that I read this book at the same time as I read the book "Bring the War Home" by Kathleen Belew and I was struck by how similar Al Qaeda was to the white power paramilitary in the US. There are obvious differences, but there are more similarities than you would expect. So here's what I observed of both movements:

1. Both are run by men who feel disaffected and feel like their society has lost its way. Al Qaeda resists the push of modernity on Islam and the white power groups resist the Civil Rights movements changes and feminism in the 60s.

2. Both movements believe in strict gender roles and view men as hyper masculine warriors whose sole job is to protect their women from being soiled. Both view women as pure virgins to be protected. BOTH movements take on polygamy and retreat from the world into their own highly armed home spaces. The women of both movements seem to be brainwashed into the rightness and holiness of the movement the men are running.

3. Both are ostensibly rooted in religion (Al Qaeda more so), but both are perversions of the mainstream religious movement. However, the Saudi Wahabbi's are much more fundamentalists than the right wing Christian movement. Both movements glamorize a past of violence sanctioned by God. The white power movement talks about the crusades and Al Qaeda about the Islamic Caliphate.

4. Both movements are ignored by the FBI until a major act of terrorism. Timothy McVeigh's bombing of the Oklahoma city building was not as devastating as 9/11, but it was not linked to the broader white power movement. The FBI did not take the Al Qaeda threat very seriously until it was too late. After 9/11, they shifted gears quickly and snuffed it out.

5. THE MAIN SIMILARITY, which was striking to me: BOTH of these groups were used, armed, and trained by the US Defense department or CIA during the 80s to fight communists. Not Al Qaeda because they weren't formed yet, but the Taliban and the Afghani Mujahedeen that Bin Laden uses were all formerly relied on by the US to beat back the communists in Afghanistan.

In the case of the white paramilitary, the movement started in Vietnam and when these vets came back, they formed civilian contra paramilitaries and the US either used their services or turned a blind eye as these men went into Nicaragua and other central American countries and used their military training to informally wage war on commies. They also tried to kill "commies" (aka Asian immigrants trying to fish in America).

6. Both movements started with a bunch of enemies and then both honed in on one: The US federal government.

7. Obviously, both groups blame everyone else for their own problems and filled with rage.

Al Qaeda is dead, but then there was ISIS and there will be more and more of these hate-filled extremists. We have to take the threat of these men and their ideas seriously and not rely just on the FBI to take them down, but also on the political systems in which both groups embedded themselves. Obviously, the US does a much better job at rooting out the violent psychos on our own soil and failed states in the middle east do not, but it's important for Americans to distinguish between the likes of Al Qaeda and the Taliban and other Middle Eastern regimes that they don't like instead of lumping them all together. That's what gives rise to white hate groups here who think all people of color are commies.

لم أقرأ كتابا تحدث عن أحداث ١١ سبتمبر بهذه الحرفية ...الكتاب قبل أن أطري على القيمة المعلوماتية التي احتوته أحببت أن أشيد على الأسلوب السردي الشيق وبراعة الترجمة به... دائما ما كنت أسأل نفسي عن مصدر الأموال التي بدأت بها بذرة القاعدة ومن هو أساس صنيعة بن لادن وأتباعه ومناصروه .....كانت الكثير من الأسئلة التي تجول في خاطري عن الأسرار الكامنة وراء هذا التنظيم التي وجدت أجوبتها المنطقية في هذا الكتاب القيم ...رائع

Once you start "The Looming Tower," you will not be able to put it down. Lawrence Wright is a master story teller. He explains things so clearly, and so vividly, that the story becomes a gateway for the reader to almost experience, first hand, the horror of the events that transpired on 9/11.

Wright also explains how such a colossal intelligence failure in the bureaucracies of the FBI and the CIA could have allowed this catastrophe to unfold.

Filled with detailed portraits of people, both prominent leaders and every day citizens, and meticulous recreation of key events, both big and small, this work of non-fiction is a true page turner.

5 Stars. If you are not outraged by the petty squabbles, inter-agency rivalries, and huge bureaucratic foul-ups, described by Lawrence Wright, then you are not paying attention!

Anyone who wants to really understand why 9/11 happened needs to read this book. From Sayyid Qutb, the exiled Egyptian intellectual who in the 50's instituted the idea that modernity and Islam were completely incompatible, to the horrible, petty rivalry between the CIA and FBI that prevented vital information from coming to light about the 9/11 plot until it was too late, The Looming Tower delivers a huge cast of characters, spans sixty years and virtually the entire world.

I’ve always wondered what percentage of news coverage since 9/11 can be traced with that day and everything that lead up to it: Al-Qaeda, Iraq, the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, suicide bombers, the Arab Spring. I’ve experienced each news thread in the same emotional arc that most Americans have--first with a sense of rage, then the sustained gloom that rises up with every new report of violence, then with jadedness--but always at a remove. We can never really know what the front lines of these extremisms are like unless we read books like The Looming Tower.

I can’t remember the last time I learned so much from a book. Granted, it took me awhile to read--and I had to put it down to read other stuff for a breather, like short stories. There’s a mind-boggling amount of information here, astoundingly researched and often reported with the narrative force of a novel. As Wright traces the roots of modern terrorism that gave birth to arguably the worst day in U.S. history, you’re bowled over by a truth that is otherwise glaringly obvious: modern jihad is simply a continuation of the Crusades, a war not so much against the U.S. as it is against Christians and Jews, who in the eyes of fundamentalists constantly threaten to impede Islam’s rightful domination of the world.

In a nutshell, this is the best kind of ripped-from-the-headlines nonfiction: your eyes have never been more wide open when you finish.

4.5 stars

The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright traces the rise of al-Qaeda and the events leading up to 9/11, showing how figures like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri built their movement. It also examines intelligence failures—particularly the rivalry between the FBI and CIA—that tragically hindered efforts to stop the attacks. Through extensive research, Wright pieces together the complex interplay of ideology, geopolitics, and missteps that led to one of history’s deadliest terrorist acts.

Oh, and did I mention it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner? Well deserved, in my opinion. This book is a masterclass in historical writing. The sheer amount of research and interviews conducted behind it is staggering, spanning secretive organizations, diverse communities and languages, and multiple countries around the world. Yet, somehow, Wright weaves it all into a compelling, cohesive story.

Now, a few critiques before I get back to the positives. The first half, while interesting and packed with information, felt long. At one point, I was surprised I still had 10 hours left in the audiobook and was only 40% through. That might be because the book is dense—so many names, places, and events make it a lot to absorb. I often had to re-read passages to fully grasp certain sections. Another minor gripe is Wright’s tendency to introduce a new figure by diving deep into their background without immediately explaining their relevance to the story. It all makes sense eventually, but in the moment, it can be slightly frustrating.

That said, once the book hits its second half, it really takes off. I was hooked—listening at the gym, during chores, everywhere. I learned so much about Middle Eastern history, Islam, the roots of anti-Western sentiment, and the rise of modern terrorism. The narrative eventually coalesces around bin Laden and it was wild to do a deep dive on his life. It was equally compelling (and tragic) to read about the FBI and CIA agents who saw the warning signs but couldn’t prevent the attacks due to the interdepartmental infighting and red tape.

The Looming Tower is one of those rare books that you almost don’t want to finish. It’s gripping, incredibly informative, and leaves a lasting impact. I’d highly recommend it to anyone interested in this history.

Two themes run through the book. First is the development of radical Islamist movements particularly in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan culminating in the formation of al-Queda. Included in the story are detailed accounts of the lives of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and their ideological predecessor Sayyid Qutb. Second is the disjointed response of the CIA, FBI and national security apparatus in Washington to counter al-Queda and similar groups. American efforts are rendered ineffective by personality feuds, political infighting and protection of jurisdictional turf. As a case in point we get the personal story of John O’Neill, his love lives, and his abrupt off-putting and endearing behaviors that won allies and created enemies. O’Neill is a polarizing figure who the author feels had the right stuff to uncover the plot if left to his own devices. My take is he was the wrong man for the job, incapable of inducing cooperation and lacking the deftness to break through bureaucratic tangles.

The book is a compelling read. Wright sprinkles in personal details about the protagonists to keep the narrative eminently human. Between the machinations of the various terrorist groups and Washington agencies we are always finding out something about the private lives of O’Neill, bin Laden and his widely extended family, as well as the character shaping events in the lives of al-Zawahiri and Qutb. This personal touch and straight forward journalistic style make Wright’s history very accessible. But more important is the message, the shifting nature of terrorism, always morphing, always challenging established thought and practices and the total inadequacy of America’s institutions to keep pace short of a massive military response. Based on this account, America’s intelligence agencies were in need of deep reform and restructuring. Hopefully action has been taken to make America’s counter terrorism agencies work together effectively because, as we look around us fourteen years after 9-11, the need has never been greater.

3.5 ⭐️

Saw this on a friends WTR list and forgot I had read this when it first came out. It is an excellent and very informative book. Does a great job of explaining how we got to 9/11 from different perspectives.

This book provides the background and context behind the making of some of the perpetrators of one of the most heinous terrorist attacks of our lifetimes... I found their inability to deal with the opposite sex, abject inability to fit into a free and open society, and how these lived experiences were then turned into spending copious amounts of time in twisting religious teachings to become more parochial to influence generations of impressionable young minds into fighting endless wars against "the others" as very eye opening... explains why women were not allowed access to education, jobs etc by the Taliban when they assumed power in Afghanistan in much greater detail too...
This book also shines a light on the dysfunction / turf battles between the Bureau and the Agency which was very disconcerting to say the least... A factual book that should be read by anyone who is interested in understanding the historical context behind the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

This was an excellent read. Really gave me insight into the rise of radicle Islam, the terror attacks of 9/11, as well as all of the unfinished business the world has to deal with concerning all forms of terrorism.

لا أظن أن هناك عملاً تاريخياً يتحدث عن القاعدة من الممكن أن يضاهي ذلك العمل، يجمع بين البورتريهات الشخصية لأبطال الأحداث، وحذاقة المحقق الصحفي الذي لا يترك كبيرة أو صغيرة، ويبدو أن كتابه حقاً قد بذل جهداً واضحاً فيه للتقرب من وجهة النظر الآخرى وليس الا��تفاء بمصادر غربية، عمل ضخم ورهيب وفارق وهام بشدة