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Jason Burke

The 9/11 Wars Paperback – June 1, 2012

by Jason Burke (Author)

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From the author of Al-Qaeda, Jason Burke's The 9/11 Wars is an essential book for understanding the dangerous and unstable world of the 21st century. On September 11th, 2001, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks, terrorists destroyed New York's World Trade Center and a substantial portion of the Pentagon. Since the Twin Towers fell, the world has seen the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the downfall of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, bombings, battles, and riots. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the "war on terror." Whether reporting on the riots in France or the attack on Mumbai, suicide bombers in Iraq or British troops fighting in Helmand Province in Afghanistan, Jason Burke's The 9/11 Wars, named 2011 Book of the Year by the Daily Telegraph, Economist, and Independent, tells the story of a world that changed forever when the hijacked planes flew out of the brilliant blue sky above Manhattan on September 11th.

Print length

709 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin
Publication date

June 1, 2012
Dimensions

6 x 2 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

9780141044590
ISBN-13

978-0141044590
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best overview of the 9/11 decade so far in print." —Economist

"A magisterial history of the last decade." —Guardian

"At a time when there are more books out on terrorism than ever before . . . this is likely to be among the best." —Sunday Telegraph

"Potent. . . journalism of a high order. . . essential for understanding the past decade." —Sunday Times

About the Author

Jason Burke is the South Asia correspondent for the Guardian. He has reported around the world for both the Guardian and the Observer. He is the author of Al-Qaeda and On the Road to Kandahar.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0141044594
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin (June 1, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 709 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780141044590
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0141044590
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.74 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 2 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,920,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,043 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #3,254 in Terrorism (Books)

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4.2 52 ratings

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Jason Burke

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Jason Burke has been a foreign correspondent for more than 20 years. He studied history at Oxford university before spending several years on local and national newspapers in the UK. In 1991, he spent time with kurdish peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq, an experience which sparked a deep interest in the Middle East, and the Islamic world. In 1998, Jason headed to Pakistan to cover that country and Afghanistan as a freelancer.

Since, he's worked, lived or reported across South Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, covering conflicts, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan from 1998 to 2011, Iraq between 2003 and 2006, insurgency in Kashmir from 1999 to 2015 and violence in Israel-Palestine from 1999 to 2014, when he covered the war in Gaza. He is currently the Guardian's Africa Correspondent.

Jason has worked extensively on Islamic militancy, which is the main subject of two of his four critically acclaimed books. He has contributed to many academic journals and publications in the topic, and spoken about it at RUSI, Scotland Yard, the French foreign ministry, the British Army and elsewhere. Jason's first book, al-Qaeda, was credited with significantly influencing the view of radical Islamic violence in the aftermath of 2001, while The 9/11 Wars was a book of the year for the Economist and the Independent. His most recent book - the New Threat from Islamic Militancy - was shortlisted for the Orwell prize, and received favourable reviews in many British newspapers, as well as respected specialist publications such as Foreign Affairs.

Jason has won a British Journalism Award, an Amnesty award, and others for his journalism, and is a frequent commentator on radio and TV.

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James Kalomiris, The Peripatetic Reader

Outstanding Piece of Historical Writing

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011

Verified Purchase

The Definitive History of the Early 21st Century

It is the first time in a long time that I am sad I finished reading this book. Jason Burke has written the definitive history for the early decade of the 21st Century, a book whose appearance is long overdue. With Bin Laden's death, the author has chosen a propitious time to release the book, for the first part of this (sadly) continuing story has concluded with more (unfortunately) to occur.

The author begins at the beginning. In March 2001, the Taliban desecrated the giant Buddha statutes in Afghanistan, an act which horrified and dismayed the world. The author begins his narrative from there, proceeding to 9/11 itself, the initially bombing incursions in Afghanistan, backtracks with the Gulf Wars, proceeds to the Iraq invasion, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and chronicles the military savagery that followed until the death of Bin Laden.

After that disarming period of complacency following 9/11 to the invasion of Iraq, the dogs of war were literally released and tormented the world. Its all here. The author reminds us several times that the "9/11Wars" actually consisted of, of course, the Iraq invasion, but local rivalries, inter-tribal conflict, armed struggles between militant groups.

The author warns the reader that he makes no pretense to represent he is presenting an objective narrative. This history is written with a certain perspective, as are all histories necessarily are, but that perspective is not overbearing and does not detract from the simple narration of events. There is plenty of blame to be passed around, and he distributes this blame as evenhandedly as possible under the circumstances. There are even those rare occasions where the author assigns mistakes and blame to the real victims in this sad saga -- the civilian population of the Middle East. One notable example possibly could be found when recounting the story of how the battle of Majjar al-Kabir. Another example would be that figure so thoroughly demonized by the Western world, Saddam Hussain. The author implies that the war in Iraq could have possibly been avoided if Hussain had been forthright in disclosing whether or not he had WMD to the UN inspectors. The author states that he did not based on his mistaken calculation that if he did he would have looked weak before the many ethnic and political factions which comprise Iraq and the area surrounding Iraq. Obviously, had he not miscalculated and complied with the UN inspectors, the invasion of Iraq quite possibly would not have occurred because the Western powers would not have had that pretext of invading the country.

The book is valuable for readers in the United States because the information obtained from "embedded" journalists are immediately suspect and indirectly unreliable. One notable example are the reports that emerged after the initial incursion into Afghanistan, where the US, news media related that Bin Laden's caves were an elaborate system of underground passageways containing a cache of weapons. In reality, when Bin Laden fled Afghanistan, US forces found that he and the militants lived in primitive, simple caves containing tins and tins of baby food. Oh, and no weapons. Revelations such as this abound in the book. In a display of the evenhanded nature of the research, the author revealed that the US in fact did not directly fund or create the Taliban. CIA funds went directly to the ISI the Pakistani security forces, who funneled the funds to the Taliban.

The most valuable feature of this book that it presents context. The author just doesn't chronicle a series of events, but he presents those events within their historical perspective, and gives an explanation of how the Middle East arrived at the position where the very fabric of the societies could be torn apart by hostilities and animosities, but gives a journalist's perspective of where the conflicts might be going.

My one disappointment is that this book only comes out apparently in paperback. Once purchased, this book could and will be read over and over again.

2 people found this helpful

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Rp125

A tour de force from Jason Burke

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book has a valuable premise - a review of the conflicts and casualties caused by the us vs militant Islam wars in the ten years since 9/11. As a reader with only a very basic understanding of iraq, Pakistan and afghanistan, and of Islam in general, I found this pitched at a good level, lots of detail, compelling narrative, dense but accessible. I am sure many people would disagree with the author on minor or major points but his theses and hypotheses seem pretty interesting and compelling to a non expert. The first hand experience he has and the wide range of secondary sources he uses lend weight to his findings. I feel like I know about a hundred times more about the conflicts than I did before reading the book.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Roger Green

The best and most up to date

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2011

Verified Purchase

The two previous reviews have it right - it's too bad we're limited to 5 stars. It's in the tradition of his previous books, and up to date when published - Sept 2011. How he included the recent Arab Spring events baffles me. He must have added material in the galley proofs stage and had a very sympathetic publisher. This is "on the ground" stuff - he is an experienced long-time reporter for the Independent and the Guardian. This is the book to read to understand what has been and is going on. The Economist wrote a very favorable review in its Sept 3 2011 issue [...]

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Amazon Customer

READ THIS BOOK ABOUT 9/11

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

Amazing, honest insight. PLEASE write another 9/11 Wars book concerning the second decade in 2021. Absolutely loved it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Gerald Parker

Superb Account of Its Complex Subject, but Do Yourself a Favour by Reading This in an Hardback Edition!

Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2012

Jason Burke`s "9/11 Wars" is as near-absolutely superb and definitive as any study of such recent and controversial history (experienced directly on site) can be. However, rather than to discuss the content of this book, which some other users on Amazon`s U.S. and on other Amazon national WWW sties have done quite well, here these comments limit themselves, for now, to dissuading most readers from acquiring this grand and massive work in its paperback form. This an example of an exceedingly important work for which its inappropriate reification as a physical object is a crippling handicap. As received, its ISBN and the extent of the book`s pagination differs quite considerably from what the Amazon Canada description indicates. The real pagination of the volume (in the Penguin Books "Allen Lane" line) for this trade paperback edition (ISBN 978-1-846-14517-9), as the publisher prints it upon the pages of the volume that this user received, is: xi, 709 p., excluding the unpaginated illustrations, thus considerably more extensive than the estmated pagination (at a wildly inaccurate toll of merely "500 pages") in the Amazon entry for the book.

Unless one is going to read Burke`s study seated at a desk or in an armchair, the book simply is unmanageable. The notes alone are extraordinary for amplitude as well as for their quality and pertinence, but with so many of them referenced per page, it is an ordeal to keep turning back and forth from text to references several times each page. (An high proportion of the references are substantive, not purely bibliographical in nature, making them all the more essential to read.) One, really, has to hold the book in BOTH hands at ALL times (unless one is a mutant with an extra limb who can hold it in THREE hands simultaneously!) while reading it.

If that is how one reads all (or most) of the time, it can be done. In a library, of course, one would sit holding the book with both hands, at a armchair or, much better, on a chair before a desk or table top. However, to prop up this humongous paperback edition and to negotiate its great girth in any other position or manner, is arduous and discouraging. Hard covers, on the other hand, even with a glue binding, facilitate using Jason Burke`s book, despite the fact that what serves to bind the pages between those hard covers, as also in the work`s paperback edition, is merely the tough glue adhesive holding the book`s pages together. Stitched thread signatures (groups) of pages sewn to each other, by contrast, would have resulted in greater flexibility to lay the book open flat. At any rate, the rigid covers of the hardback edition are strong enough to bear the pressure of a bookstand grasping or fastening the book at each end while the reader is busy thrashing away, flapping back and forth through its pages fore and aft; with lighter paperback covers, by contrast, one quickly can demolish the book while handling it during reading.

The print-type is so small that both text and notes are difficult for all but young, maximally functioning reader`s eyes to take in with any ease. Howeverer if the print had been any larger, of course, the book would have been even bulkier than it already is. This may be a book which could have profited either from use of even thinner paper (e.g., "onion-skin" paper of the type often used in fine quality Bibles), to reduce the volume`s bulk, or from publishing in two tomes rather than in a single volume.

The work`s content is Amazon 5-stars all the way, four of them here only due to the unmanageable paperback format. The writing is vivid, the perspectives, whether "close-up" vignettes or more "wide-scope" reportage of what takes place as the author recounts it, in both cases resolutely grip the reader`s attention. Get the book, but obtain it in hardback (as this reader has done, reluctantly and ruefully, after having purchased the paperback edition), despite its much greater cost!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Gerald Parker

This Is a Superb Study of Recent History but Dfficult to Use in Its Paperback Format

Reviewed in Canada on September 27, 2012

Verified Purchase

Jason Burke`s "9/11 Wars" is as near-absolutely superb and definitive as any study of such recent and controversial history (experienced directly on site) can be. However, rather than to discuss the content of this book, which some other users on Amazon`s U.S. and on other Amazon national WWW sties have done quite well, here these comments limit themselves, for now, to dissuading most readers from acquiring this grand and massive work in its paperback form. This an example of an exceedingly important work for which its inappropriate reification as a physical object is a crippling handicap. As received, its ISBN and the extent of the book`s pagination differs quite considerably from what the Amazon Canada description indicates. The real pagination of the volume (in the Penguin Books "Allen Lane" line) for this trade paperback edition (ISBN 978-1-846-14517-9), as the publisher prints it upon the pages of the volume that this user received, is: xi, 709 p., excluding the unpaginated illustrations, thus considerably more extensive than the estmated pagination (at a wildly inaccurate toll of merely "500 pages") in the Amazon entry for the book.

Unless one is going to read Burke`s study seated at a desk or in an armchair, the book simply is unmanageable. The notes alone are extraordinary for amplitude as well as for their quality and pertinence, but with so many of them referenced per page, it is an ordeal to keep turning back and forth from text to references several times each page. (An high proportion of the references are substantive, not purely bibliographical in nature, making them all the more essential to read.) One, really, has to hold the book in BOTH hands at ALL times (unless one is a mutant with an extra limb who can hold it in THREE hands simultaneously!) while reading it.

If that is how one reads all (or most) of the time, it can be done. In a library, of course, one would sit holding the book with both hands, at a armchair or, much better, on a chair before a desk or table top. However, to prop up this humongous paperback edition and to negotiate its great girth in any other position or manner, is arduous and discouraging. Hard covers, on the other hand, even with a glue binding, facilitate using Jason Burke`s book, despite the fact that what serves to bind the pages between those hard covers, as also in the work`s paperback edition, is merely the tough glue adhesive holding the book`s pages together. Stitched thread signatures (groups) of pages sewn to each other, by contrast, would have resulted in greater flexibility to lay the book open flat. At any rate, the rigid covers of the hardback edition are strong enough to bear the pressure of a bookstand grasping or fastening the book at each end while the reader is busy thrashing away, flapping back and forth through its pages fore and aft; with lighter paperback covers, by contrast, one quickly can demolish the book while handling it during reading.

The print-type is so small that both text and notes are difficult for all but young, maximally functioning reader`s eyes to take in with any ease. Howeverer if the print had been any larger, of course, the book would have been even bulkier than it already is. This may be a book which could have profited either from use of even thinner paper (e.g., "onion-skin" paper of the type often used in fine quality Bibles), to reduce the volume`s bulk, or from publishing in two tomes rather than in a single volume.

The work`s content is Amazon 5-stars all the way, four of them here only due to the unmanageable paperback format. The writing is vivid, the perspectives, whether "close-up" vignettes or more "wide-scope" reportage of what takes place as the author recounts it, in both cases resolutely grip the reader`s attention. Get the book, but obtain it in hardback (as this reader has done, reluctantly and ruefully, after having purchased the paperback edition), despite its much greater cost!

J D

One of the best books about the era

Reviewed in Canada on December 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

If you want a balanced account of the implications of 9/11, Jason Burke is where you go to find it. This is a rare examination of the key issues, the major highlights and the challenges of the 9/11 era, drawn in large part from Burke's own body of reportage. Clearly written, with strong judgments based on considerable experience, this book is at the top of a short list of books looking at 9/11.

One person found this helpful

Westcountryman

Keenly observed and subtly nuanced

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

The author explores in depth the West's post 9/11 relationship with the Islamic world (in fact he shows how the monochrome view the West often has of the Islamic world is itself highly suspect - there are many 'Islamic worlds'). In so doing, Jason Burke avoids the lazy assumptions of both Left and Right to show a complex and still evolving picture. No easy answers, but much food for thought.

3 people found this helpful

Shalina

👍🏻

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 1, 2019

Verified Purchase

Bought it for research to aid me on my assignment in college......helpful!!!

One person found this helpful

Anthony Whittey

Very informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2013

Verified Purchase

Excellent coverage of the" war on terror" right up to
the present day.Jason Burke takes you from 9/11
on a journey from New York across the middle east
and on to Indonesia,then back to the middle east.

2 people found this helpful

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