Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad [Hardcover]

Peter L. Bergen (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 1, 2012

The gripping account of the decade-long hunt for the world's most wanted man.

It was only a week before 9/11 that Peter Bergen turned in the manuscript of Holy War, Inc., the story of Osama bin Laden--whom Bergen had once interviewed in a mud hut in Afghanistan--and his declaration of war on America. The book became a New York Times bestseller and the essential portrait of the most formidable terrorist enterprise of our time. Now, in Manhunt, Bergen picks up the thread with this taut yet panoramic account of the pursuit and killing of bin Laden.

Here are riveting new details of bin Laden’s flight after the crushing defeat of the Taliban to Tora Bora, where American forces came startlingly close to capturing him, and of the fugitive leader’s attempts to find a secure hiding place. As the only journalist to gain access to bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound before the Pakistani government demolished it, Bergen paints a vivid picture of bin Laden’s grim, Spartan life in hiding and his struggle to maintain control of al-Qaeda even as American drones systematically picked off his key lieutenants.

Half a world away, CIA analysts haunted by the intelligence failures that led to 9/11 and the WMD fiasco pored over the tiniest of clues before homing in on the man they called "the Kuwaiti"--who led them to a peculiar building with twelve-foot-high walls and security cameras less than a mile from a Pakistani military academy. This was the courier who would unwittingly steer them to bin Laden, now a prisoner of his own making but still plotting to devastate the United States.

Bergen takes us inside the Situation Room, where President Obama considers the COAs (courses of action) presented by his war council and receives conflicting advice from his top advisors before deciding to risk the raid that would change history--and then inside the Joint Special Operations Command, whose "secret warriors," the SEALs, would execute Operation Neptune Spear. From the moment two Black Hawks take off from Afghanistan until bin Laden utters his last words, Manhunt reads like a thriller.

Based on exhaustive research and unprecedented access to White House officials, CIA analysts, Pakistani intelligence, and the military, this is the definitive account of ten years in pursuit of bin Laden and of the twilight of al-Qaeda.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Chosen by the Washington Post As One of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2012

"Virtually crackles with insider details...Bergen’s Pakistani sources gave him new insight into bin Laden’s home life...The details of the SEAL raid itself...[make] for compelling reading. Bergen puts the raid into a broader intelligence framework and deftly re-creates the heart-thumping tension of that night and the calculations that went into pulling off the daring mission...Bergen’s three other books have become required reading for national security buffs and counterterrorism reporters. But Manhunt is different. It goes to a higher level...Bergen has accomplished a journalistic feat: He manages to make the story of bin Laden’s end sound new. He has put together a real-life thriller that will be a must-read for years to come."
--Dina Temple-Raston, Washington Post

"A gripping read...Bergen has an eye for memorable close-ups. His narrative has authority...Packed with satisfying observations...Highly readable."
--The Economist
 
“Some of the more illuminating sections of Manhunt concern the efforts of intelligence analysts to piece together a 'working theory' about Bin Laden’s whereabouts...Also fascinating are the descriptions of internal debates within the Obama administration.”
--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

 “The best reporting we have on the subject.”
--Michelle Dean, The Nation

"Bergen...draw[s] on his excellent government sources, his deep knowledge of al Qaeda, and his reporter’s instincts (which got him into the Abbottabad compound just after the raid). His book is full of fascinating details and illustrates the immense pressure on national security bureaucracies to provide options to policymakers and then reduce the risks associated with their implementation."
--Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs

"Gripping...Dramatic...A masterful account of bin Laden’s life and activities, how al Qaeda operated in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and the American government’s success in tracking down the world’s most notorious terrorist leader."
--Joshua Sinai, Washington Times

"Terrific...A fast-paced narrative that takes you into the search for the most-wanted man in human history."
--Bruce Riedel, The Daily Beast

“The story is riveting because it is as if Bergen were embedded everywhere--the situation room of the White House, three miles high in the rugged mountains of Tora Bora and alongside the Navy SEALS who would put a quick and dramatic end to bin Laden’s life.”
--San Antonio Express

“I devoured it. It’s an important book, which I urge you to read as soon as you can…Bergen’s moment-by-moment account of the raid makes for gripping, even breathless, reading.”
--Clay Jenkinson, Bismarck Tribune

“This superbly researched account of the United States' decade-long effort to track and kill bin Laden provides the intimate details on virtually every critical decision along the way…The book actually transcends its subject matter, demonstrating the best practices of critical thinking by the people who do it best…Present[s] the evidence on both sides of even the most controversial issues, without agenda or bias…Compelling and authoritative.”
--Huffington Post

"Dispassionate and authoritative...What the author brings to this epic story is context and perspective...Bergen has the credibility to tell this story."
--Frank Davies, Miami Herald

“Uncanny access and research…a fascinating account...The story is riveting because it is as if Bergen were embedded everywhere…Gives some interesting insight into the complex personality of bin Laden.”
--Mark Stoeltje, San Antonio Express-News

“Bergen offers rather intriguing profiles of the four wives...Bergen’s telling of the actual operation--flashing from Special Ops movements to administration anticipation, including the White House Correspondents Dinner, where Seth Meyers famously made a crack about Bin Laden having a show on C-SPAN--is riveting.”
--Swati Pandey, Los Angeles Review of Books

"In Manhunt, Peter Bergen has produced a page-turner rich with new information and insight into the search for Bin Laden and his killing. Only Bergen, America's foremost counterterrorism writer, could have produced a book of such energy and authority--a triumph."
--STEVE COLL, author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

"Ten years of grit, intelligent hard work, and daring led to Operation Neptune Spear, and Bergen captures it all in a story that is both a riveting page turner and a definitive history. Revealing details of bin Laden's last years in self-imposed prison, the debates of the CIA analysts who tracked him, and the training of the SEALs who killed him, Manhunt is essential reading for anyone who wants to know the real story of how the world's most wanted terrorist was finally brought to justice."
--ERIC GREITENS, author of The Heart and The Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL    
 
"With masterly reporting, Peter Bergen takes us where we've never been: behind the high walls of Osama bin Laden's last hideout and behind the scenes of the heroic and painstaking hunt for the Al Qaeda mastermind. Manhunt is a thrilling read."
--ANDERSON COOPER, CNN anchor

About the Author

PETER BERGEN is the author of three previous books about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, two of which were New York Times bestsellers. He is CNN's national security analyst and a director of the New America Foundation. Bergen has held teaching positions at Harvard and at Johns Hopkins University and is a graduate of Oxford. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, documentary producer Tresha Mabile, and their son.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Crown; First Edition edition (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307955575
• ISBN-13: 978-0307955579
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (130 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > History > Middle East > Saudi Arabia
  • #65 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Terrorism
  • #75 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Specific Topics > Intelligence & Espionage

More About the Author

Peter Bergen is a print and television journalist; the director of the national security studies program at the New America Foundation in Washington D.C.; a research fellow at New York University's Center on Law and Security and CNN's national security analyst. In 2008 he was an Adjunct Lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and he has worked as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Bergen has reported on al-Qaeda, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and counterterrorism and homeland security for a range of American newspapers and magazines including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, TIME, The Nation, The National Interest, Mother Jones, Newsweek, Washington Times and Vanity Fair. He is a contributing editor at The New Republic. His story on extraordinary rendition for Mother Jones was part of a package of stories nominated for a 2008 National Magazine Award. He has also written for newspapers and magazines around the world such as The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, International Herald Tribune, Prospect, El Mundo, La Repubblica, The National, and Die Welt. And he has worked as a correspondent for National Geographic Television, Discovery Television and CNN.

Bergen is on the editorial board of Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, a leading scholarly journal in the field, and has testified before several congressional committees. He is a member of the National Security Preparedness Group, a successor to the 9/11 Commission and is the editor of the AfPak Channel, a joint publication of Foreign Policy magazine and the New America Foundation that can be found at www.foreignpolicy.com/afpak.

Bergen has traveled repeatedly to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to report on bin Laden and al-Qaeda. His most recent book is The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda. New York Times book reviewer Michiko Kakutani writes, "For readers interested in a highly informed, wide-angled, single-volume briefing on the war on terror so far, "The Longest War" is clearly that essential book." Tom Ricks also writing in the Times described the book as "stunning."

His previous book was "The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader" (Free Press, 2006). It was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2006 by The Washington Post. "The Osama bin Laden I Know" was translated into French, Spanish and Polish, and CNN produced a two hour documentary, "In the Footsteps of bin Laden," based on the book. Bergen was one of the producers of the CNN documentary, which was named the best documentary of 2006 by the Society of Professional Journalists and was nominated for an Emmy.

Bergen is also the author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Bin Laden. (Free Press, 2001). Holy War, Inc. was a New York Times bestseller, has been translated into eighteen languages and was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2001 by The Washington Post. A documentary based on Holy War, Inc., which aired on National Geographic Television, was nominated for an Emmy in 2002. Bergen was the recipient of the 2000 Leonard Silk Journalism Fellowship and was the Pew Journalist in Residence at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in 2001 while writing Holy War, Inc.

In 1997, as a producer for CNN, Bergen produced bin Laden's first television interview, in which he declared war against the United States for the first time to a Western audience. In 1994 he won the Overseas Press Club Edward R. Murrow award for best foreign affairs documentary for the CNN program "Kingdom of Cocaine," which was also nominated for an Emmy. Bergen co-produced the CNN documentary Terror Nation which traced the links between Afghanistan and the bombers who attacked the World Trade Center for the first time in 1993. The documentary, which was shot in Afghanistan during the civil war there and aired in 1994, concluded that the country would be the source of additional anti-Western terrorism. From 1998 to 1999 Bergen worked as a correspondent-producer for CNN. He was program editor for "CNN Impact," a co-production of CNN and TIME, from 1997 to 1998.

Previously he worked for CNN as a producer on a wide variety of international and U.S. national stories. From 1985 to 1990 he worked for ABC News in New York. In 1983 he traveled to Pakistan for the first time with two friends to make a documentary about the Afghan refugees fleeing the Soviet invasion of their country. The subsequent documentary, Refugees of Faith, was shown on Channel 4 (UK).

Bergen has a M.A. in Modern History from New College, Oxford University. He won an Open Scholarship when he went up to New College in 1981. Before that he attended Ampleforth. He was born in Minneapolis in 1962 and was raised in London.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 62 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars TRACKING THE WORLD'S MOST WANTED TERRORIST May 2, 2012

By RBSProds TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Five INVESTIGATIVE Stars! In "Manhunt: The Ten Year Search For Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbottabad", author and national security expert Peter Bergen promises the full story on the tracking down and killing of the Al-Qaeda terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden, and the book is full of detail on the manhunt, the raid, and the aftermath. He actually met Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in March 1997 conducting an interview for CNN with two fellow journalists. While bin Laden came off as a mild-mannered person during the interview, his rhetoric spewed "a raw hatred of the United States" and he effectively declared war on the USA. Four years later on 9/11, bin Laden sent Al-Qaeda personnel into the USA to launch his attack on the American people at famous landmarks, killing over 3000 people who also represented citizens of over 90 countries. Author Bergen was the first outside observer to have access to bin Laden's now-destroyed Abbottabad compound in Pakistan and even standing in the bedroom where bin Laden met his demise. Based on high ranking sources, some of whom are named, he was able to trace the CIA's tracking of bin Laden's movements, his familial relationships, and to recreate how the CIA sifted through the haystack of possibilities: finding the key courier that led the US to the compound, and the circumstances of the raid. Indeed, the pursuits of fugitives such as Adolph Eichmann and Mir Aimal Kansi provided the CIA some methodology in the bin Laden chase. Along the way, the author addresses many interesting persons and circumstances: the bin Laden compound's purchase and functional architecture, the most dangerous job in Al-Qaeda, the truth about bin Laden's kidney disease, what really happened at Tora Bora, Al-Qaeda's Operational Security techniques, bin Laden's tangled polygamous familial relationships, internal disagreements within Al-Qaeda, the intelligence windfall of bodyguard Abu Jandal, the 4 key parameters of the 'Rebecca' analyst's "Inroads" paper, KSM and Qahtani, the Jordanian doctor, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, the "Holy Toledo" moment, the "Red Team", multiple raid options, "The Decision", the complexity of the raid, bin Laden's last words, the true reaction vs the official reaction in Pakistan, and the aftermath. This is an impressive feat of investigative journalism, building up to and going beyond a crucial historical moment bringing to justice the greatest mass murderer in US history. My Highest Recommendation! Five COMPELLING Stars. (384 total pages~3708 KB, with 3 maps, and over 40 photographs and documents, with bibliography and notes. This review is based on a Kindle download, reviewed in text and text-to-speech modes.)

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Account May 4, 2012

By J. Gomez TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbottabad by Peter L. Bergen

"Manhunt" is the riveting and insightful ten-year pursuit of America's most wanted man. Best-selling author and acclaimed security analyst Peter L. Bergen provides the most thorough and discerning account of what actually went down and the people behind the manhunt of Bin Laden. This well-researched book reads like a good spy novel and offers keen insight that only a person as well-connected and methodical as Bergen can provide. A page-turner of a book that unfortunately was rushed to meet the one year anniversary and in doing so left out some important intelligence that is becoming available now to the media. Be that as it may, this book was a treat to read and the author closes out the book with a great synopsis of the state of Al-Qaeda and the Middle East in general. This mesmerizing 384-page book is composed of the following fourteen chapters: 1. 9/11 and After, 2.Tora Bora, 3. Al-Qaeda in the Wilderness, 4. The Resurgence of Al-Qaeda, 5. A Working Theory of the Case, 6. Closing In on the Courier, 7. Obama at War, 8. Anatomy of a Lead, 9. The Last Years of Osama bin Laden, 10. The Secret Warriors, 11. Courses of Action, 12. The Decision, 13. Don't Turn On the Light, and 14. Aftermath.

Positives:
1. Peter Bergen is a fantastic author who has an excellent track record.
2. A fascinating topic in the talented hands of a master. Bergen is well-connected and it shows. This is as well-researched a book as you will find.
3. Excellent writer, his prose is engaging and some parts reads like a James Bond film. A page turner indeed.
4. Great insight on how intelligence is collected and the characters involved. Also how decisions get made and the philosophy behind those decisions. Interesting.
5. A great look back at similar covert actions and lessons learned. War strategy.
6. Fascinating insights throughout the book. The interrogation techniques, plots that were thankfully thwarted, the failures and successes.
7. A look at some of the technology...The Predator drones and their use.
8. The Agency's four "pillars" of the hunt.
9. A very interesting look at President Obama's foreign policy.
10. Interesting look at the dynamics between bin Laden and his cohorts.
11. A look into the mind of bin Laden. His views, plans, observations...
12. The creation of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the reasoning behind it. The leadership of Major General Stanley McChrystal and why he succeeded.
13. The Navy Seals...enough said.
14. The key role of Admiral William McRaven. His strategy.
15. The four possible Courses of Action (COAs) for Abbottabad. and what the key players favored and why. Great stuff.
16. All the details of Operation Neptune Spear. Like a great spy novel.
17. An inside look at the logistics involved with such an operation and the politics involved.
18. What went right and what went wrong with the mission and the aftermath. Lessons learned.
19. An excellent synopsis of the current state of affairs in the Middle East.
20. Photo inserts always welcomed.
21. An impressive bibliography and notes sections.
22. One of the best acknowledgements section I've ever seen. Really gives you an idea at all the people involved with this book including Anderson Cooper and key government contacts.

Negatives:
1. The book was clearly rushed to meet a most likely publisher-induced deadline. As a result some information pertaining to the "treasure trove" retrieved by the SEALS from the bin Laden compound is now being released and such details were obviously missed by this book.
2. It's hard to be too critical, the book is insightful but I was hoping to know more about bin Laden's finances. Where did all his money go? Bergen does provide insight about bin Laden's thriftiness but not really much on where all his millions went.
3. A book warranted a list of cast of characters.
4. No kindle links to notes.
5. Not as impressive or as detailed technically as his previous books but excellent nonetheless.

In summary, some of the shortcomings aside I really enjoyed this book. Peter Bergen is a treat to read for many reasons: he is an authority on the topic, has a great reputation, is well-connected and writes with an engaging prose. This book is a fascinating story of the ten-year hunt for bin Laden and it does the topic justice. I highly recommend it!

Further suggestions: "Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror" by Richard A. Clarke, "SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper" by Howard E. Wasdin & Stephen Templin, "Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice" by William McRaven, "Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War" by Mark Bowden, "Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10" by Marcus Lattrell, and "WAR" by Sebastian Junger.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Best written book on hunt for UBL December 27, 2012

By Amy McCormick

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've read Mark Bowden's book and No Easy Day and this was by far the best written, and most informative of the three.