Product Description

Examines the network's religious roots, its widespread organizational reach (including the U.S.), its complex political and religious agenda, and its terrifying tactics. Covers not only the social, political, and economic factors that have led to the creation of this elusive terrorist network. Softcover.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1211045 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From the Back Cover
Al-Qaeda: Anatomy of Terror examines the network's religious roots, its widespread organizational reach (including the U.S.), its complex political and religious agenda, and its terrifying tactics. The book includes a chilling account of life within al-Qaeda that comes in part from the testimony of members of the Bin Laden group, including Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl, who was arrested for staging the August 1998 suicide bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It describes al-Qaeda's capabilities of acts of mass destruction, including stockpiles of radiological weapons. It is impossible to understand the present situation without also understanding the often violent history of Islam and its factions. Al-Qaeda: Anatomy of Terror covers not only the social, political, and economic factors that have led to the creation of this elusive terrorist network, but also uncovers its religious roots in fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran and the widespread support for those interpretations among radical Islamic groups worldwide.

About the Author

Paul L. Williams holds a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Drew University. He has taught theology, humanities, medieval history, and philosophy at the University of Scranton, and for the past seven years has served as a consultant on organized crime and international terrorism for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Customer Reviews

Informative but has some flaws
This book on Al Qaeda has a useable index and references to additional research sources that you can look up on your own (including Internet websites). This gives the book an extra dimension to just being something you read and put away.

Williams manages to cram quite a bit into a compact soft-cover and does a good job of giving the reader a scare. He also tries to describe the structure of Al Qaeda and how it raises money for its activities. He could be more thorough describing the background on bin Laden and Islamic unrest but perhaps that would at least double the size of his book. His references are also a bit loose and there was at least one instance where I could not corroborate his information.

Don't waste your time
A truly poor book that literally is cut and pasted from either on-line sources or other texts. Many factual errors, and unfortunately, not a single footnote in the entire book. Anyone who has more than a passing interest about Al Qaeda should go on to far better works on the subject.

Good updated analysis of events
This is an excellent book about Bin Ladins organization. The author gives a history of Islam and relates it to Bin Ladins organization. He talks about things Bin Ladin did in Sudan that have never been talked about as in depth before. His information is probably one of the most accurate because he worked for the F.B.I.