Usama Bin Laden's Al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network (Terrorism Library Series) [Paperback]

Yonah Alexander (Author), Michael S. Swetnam (Author)

Book Description

Series: Terrorism library series | Publication Date: April 1, 2001

The al-Qaida informal and loose international network in over 50 countries has been responsible for spectacular terrorist operations such as the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing in New York, the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, the 1998 US embassy bombings in East Africa, and is apparently linked to the attack of the destroyer USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, in 2000. The purpose of this book is not to glorify bin Laden and al-Qaida. Rather, it is designed to provide an easily accessible reference for academics, policy makers, reporters and other interested individuals on one of the most notorious terrorist groups. The volume exposes much of al-Qaida's mystique and thereby places it in perspective as one of the many challenges facing the international community in the 21st Century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a primer that is all too timely...a quick reference quide ...to put recent headlines in context -- nationaljournal.com

From the Publisher

The negative reviews being posted on the Amazon.com site for this title are quite unjustified. This books was put together by experts in the field of international terrorism and was originally published in April, 2001 - many months before the September 11th events. The purpose in publishing this relatively short book on bin Laden's al-Qaida network was to attempt to make more people aware of the capabilities and threats from this very serious terrorist network. It was not intended to be an exhaustive study of bin Laden or al-Qaida nor was it published with the intention of profiting from recent events. The reason that much of the information in the book is now available through the media is because immediately after the September 11th attacks, many copies of the book were ordered by newspapers, magazines, and TV news program producers. Where do you think FOX, CNN, and NBC got their information. If more of the media and federal officials had paid attention to the i! nformation presented in this book, perhaps the events of September 11th could have been prevented

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Product Details

• Paperback: 164 pages
• Publisher: Transnational Pub (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571052194
• ISBN-13: 978-1571052193
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the better book to inform us of terrorists, November 30, 2001

By 

Michael Kraft (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Usama Bin Laden's Al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network (Terrorism Library Series) (Paperback)

I am Just an average American and not anything more than the average reader but I can deduce facts, this book brings us factual information about the terrorist. I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the subject, but remember this is not a fantasy of entertainment piece, it simply brings us the account.
Another Good Book that goes into some detail about the future of terrorism and did predict this terror by saying they would blow up the buildings and use bio war is Karl Mark Maddox's SB 1 or God

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely disappointing, November 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Usama Bin Laden's Al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network (Terrorism Library Series) (Paperback)

As a professional who deals with this subject matter for a living, I must say I was extremely disappointed in this book. It contains very little information and no analysis whatsoever, and is neither "detailed" nor "informative". All of the information in this book (and much more) can be found on the Internet for free after an hour's worth of searching, and information seems to have been taken from easily available open sources with no value added by the authors. For those who want to learn about bin Laden and al-Qa'ida, I would recommend reading PBS's excellent website "Hunting bin Laden" or transcripts from al-Qa'ida trials (the 98 embassy bombing trial and the millenium bombing plot) at Findlaw's website. For those who want a book on the subject, check out "The New Jackals" by Simon Reeve or "Holy War, Inc." by Peter Bergen. Both are done by journalists rather than scholars, but are informative and interesting reading. For a more scholarly discussion of terrorism in general, see "Inside Terrorism", a great introduction to the subject by RAND's Bruce Hoffman, or "Origins of Terrorism", edited by Walter Reich.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An extremely short encyclopeadia, October 25, 2001

By 

David Gunstensen (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Usama Bin Laden's Al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network (Terrorism Library Series) (Paperback)

If you are looking for some insight into the history of terrorist networks and what motivites these peaople then keep looking. If you are looking for a short book of facts about al-Qaida then this is the book for you. I found this book extremely dissappointing. For one it is a mere 52 pages. (excluding the bibliography and long appenices). The rest of the book is little more than a list of facts. ie 27 pages listing known or suspected members with a brief paragraph about each and 15 pages of a timeline listing several dates with a sentance or 2 about each.