Osama bin Laden: The Biography
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-17 06:51:49
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Peter L. Bergen
- ISBN：1982170522
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Summary
The world’s leading expert on Osama bin Laden delivers for the first time the definitive biography of a man who set the course of American foreign policy for the 21st century， and whose ideological heirs we continue to battle today。
In The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden， Peter Bergen provides the first reevaluation of the man responsible for precipitating America’s long wars with al-Qaeda and its descendants， capturing bin Laden in all the dimensions of his life: as a family man， as a zealot， as a battlefield commander， as a terrorist leader， and as a fugitive。 The book sheds light on his many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire， yet insisted his family live like paupers。 He adored his wives and children， depending on two of his wives， both of whom had PhDs， to make important strategic decisions。 Yet he also brought ruin to his family。 He was fanatically religious， yet willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam。 He inspired deep loyalty yet， in the end， his bodyguards turned against him。 And while he inflicted the most lethal act of mass murder in United States history， he failed to achieve any of his strategic goals。
The lasting image we have of bin Laden in his final years is of an aging man with a graying beard watching old footage of himself， just another dad flipping through the channels with his remote。 In the end， bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound， far from the front lines of his holy war。 And yet despite that unheroic denouement， his ideology lives on。 Thanks to exclusive interviews with family members and associates， and documents unearthed only recently， Bergen’s portrait of Osama will reveal for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists。
In The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden， Peter Bergen provides the first reevaluation of the man responsible for precipitating America’s long wars with al-Qaeda and its descendants， capturing bin Laden in all the dimensions of his life: as a family man， as a zealot， as a battlefield commander， as a terrorist leader， and as a fugitive。 The book sheds light on his many contradictions: he was the son of a billionaire， yet insisted his family live like paupers。 He adored his wives and children， depending on two of his wives， both of whom had PhDs， to make important strategic decisions。 Yet he also brought ruin to his family。 He was fanatically religious， yet willing to kill thousands of civilians in the name of Islam。 He inspired deep loyalty yet， in the end， his bodyguards turned against him。 And while he inflicted the most lethal act of mass murder in United States history， he failed to achieve any of his strategic goals。
The lasting image we have of bin Laden in his final years is of an aging man with a graying beard watching old footage of himself， just another dad flipping through the channels with his remote。 In the end， bin Laden died in a squalid suburban compound， far from the front lines of his holy war。 And yet despite that unheroic denouement， his ideology lives on。 Thanks to exclusive interviews with family members and associates， and documents unearthed only recently， Bergen’s portrait of Osama will reveal for the first time who he really was and why he continues to inspire a new generation of jihadists。
Reviews
Radhika Shendye
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This is a brilliant biography on the life of Osama bin laden based on extensive first hand research and interviews with many key people including President Obama。 It's factual and provides an excellent unbiased view of the events that led to 9/11 and it's aftermath。 The author has carefully debunked any myths or conspiracy theories about bin laden or Al Qaeda wherever applicable。The author （former producer at CNN） had conducted the first and only in person interview with Osama at Tora Bora in '9 This is a brilliant biography on the life of Osama bin laden based on extensive first hand research and interviews with many key people including President Obama。 It's factual and provides an excellent unbiased view of the events that led to 9/11 and it's aftermath。 The author has carefully debunked any myths or conspiracy theories about bin laden or Al Qaeda wherever applicable。The author （former producer at CNN） had conducted the first and only in person interview with Osama at Tora Bora in '98。 He is also the only non-government person to have visited Osama's Abbotabad residence after his demise， before it was destroyed by the Pakistani govt。 The author's previous book on Osama was found in his personal library in Abbotabad。The book ends with a few opinions by the author around CIA's interrogation tactics at the time， which are controversial due to morality concerns。 Overall this is the best book I've read about Osama bin laden and the middle east。 。。。more
Barbara
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Read this because I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the person of Osama bib Laden。 Was reminded with a jolt how bad the Bush administration was。
Serge
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Authoritative Account of EventsBergen does a great service by correcting the many false narratives peddled by lesser journalists and talking heads for personal profit。 Bergen stitches together the quarter century that saw Bin Laden's ascent at the end of the eighties to his ignominious death in 2011。 The crafty and delusional heir to a vast Saudi fortune set the world ablaze with his self-serving martyr ideology and the West's reaction his threat （ the War on Terror） tilted US foreign policy awa Authoritative Account of EventsBergen does a great service by correcting the many false narratives peddled by lesser journalists and talking heads for personal profit。 Bergen stitches together the quarter century that saw Bin Laden's ascent at the end of the eighties to his ignominious death in 2011。 The crafty and delusional heir to a vast Saudi fortune set the world ablaze with his self-serving martyr ideology and the West's reaction his threat （ the War on Terror） tilted US foreign policy away from long term geopolitical interests。 Avery readableand persuasive book。 。。。more
Alex
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First i would like to thank #simonandschuster and #netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review。Overall， i found this book very interesting as someone who studies psychology i did find it interesting his early life and how he became exile from his entire family pretty early on due to not agreeing with his beliefs And seeing how those early interactions in life caused him to think the way he did。 This book follows his entire life from soon after birth essentially and his family’s life First i would like to thank #simonandschuster and #netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review。Overall， i found this book very interesting as someone who studies psychology i did find it interesting his early life and how he became exile from his entire family pretty early on due to not agreeing with his beliefs And seeing how those early interactions in life caused him to think the way he did。 This book follows his entire life from soon after birth essentially and his family’s life to his death。 The author Peter Bergen was the first America journalist to be granted a face to face interview with him in mid 1990s for CNN， you can still find it on youtube。 It was crazy to hear all the steps that were included in getting that interview which at that point he was already well known among intelligence communities。 I also think it is important to note that the author is American and works for CNN and thus will have certain biases when it comes to talking about Osama…and thus can be seen somewhat but overall i thought it was pretty neutral and kept mostly to the facts。 I know that this book definitely is not everyone cup of tea at all i completely understand that but i did find it interesting reading the thought process， rational， and ideals that existed。 If you want to learn more about the radicalization process this is a overall pretty solid book to begin to understand it。 PLEASE NOTE:Although Osama used the religion of Islam as reasoning for his actions mainstream practices of Islam rejects his interpretations and even Saudi Arabia revoked his citizenship due to this fact as well。 Islam is a very peaceful religion when practice correctly。 。。。more
Michael Richter
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Peter Bergen's book is very thorough and details the complexities of Osama bin Laden as one of the most consequential individuals of the last decades。 Bergen's writing is precise and efficient， and for the uninitiated reader this is an excellent biography， spanning bin Laden's entire life， with all his social， religious， and personal metamorphosis。 My only reservation is that much of this material has already been known and covered in great detail， including by Peter Bergen himself， so those rea Peter Bergen's book is very thorough and details the complexities of Osama bin Laden as one of the most consequential individuals of the last decades。 Bergen's writing is precise and efficient， and for the uninitiated reader this is an excellent biography， spanning bin Laden's entire life， with all his social， religious， and personal metamorphosis。 My only reservation is that much of this material has already been known and covered in great detail， including by Peter Bergen himself， so those readers expecting significant new insights might be somewhat disappointed。 Still， an excellent read！ 。。。more
Brandon Westlake
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