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{{Infobox book|
{{Infobox book|
| name = The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
| name = The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
| image = File:LoomingTower.jpg
| image = File:LoomingTower.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| image_size = 200px
| caption = Hardcover, US first edition, Knopf, 2006
| caption = Cover of the first US edition
| author = [[Lawrence Wright]]
| author = [[Lawrence Wright]]
| cover_artist = [[Chip Kidd]] (designer)
| cover_artist = [[Chip Kidd]] (designer)
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
| genre = [[Non-fiction]]
| genre = [[Non-fiction]]
| publisher = [[Alfred A. Knopf]] (US)
| publisher = [[Alfred A. Knopf]] (US)
| release_date = 2006
| release_date = 2006
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pages = 480
| pages = 480
| isbn = 978-0-375-41486-2
| isbn = 978-0-375-41486-2
| dewey = 973.931 22
| dewey = 973.931 22
| congress = HV6432.7 .W75 2006
| congress = HV6432.7 .W75 2006
| oclc = 64592193
| oclc = 64592193
}}
}}
'''''The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11''''' is a historical look at the way in which [[Al-Qaeda]] came into being, the background for various terrorist attacks and how they were investigated, and the events that led to the [[September 11 attacks]]. The book was written by [[Lawrence Wright]], who was awarded a [[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]] for the work.
'''''The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11''''' is a 2006 non-fiction book by [[Lawrence Wright]]. It is a historical look at the way in which the militant organisation [[Al-Qaeda]] came into being, the background for various terrorist attacks and how they were investigated, and the events that led to the [[September 11 attacks]]. In 2007, Wright was awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction]] for the work.


==Overview==
== Overview ==
''The Looming Tower'' is largely focused on the people involved in the [[September 11 attacks]], their motives and personalities, and how they interacted. The book starts with [[Sayyid Qutb]], an [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] religious scholar who visited the United States in the late 1940s and returned to his home to become an anti-West [[Islamist]] and eventually a martyr for his beliefs. There is also a portrait of [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], from his childhood in Egypt to his participation in and later leadership of [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] to his merging of his organization with Al Qaeda.
''The Looming Tower'' is largely focused on the people who conspired to commit the [[September 11 attacks]], their motives and personalities, and how they interacted. The book starts with [[Sayyid Qutb]], an [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] religious scholar who visited the United States in the late 1940s and returned to his home to become an anti-West [[Islamist]] and eventually a martyr for his beliefs. There is also a portrait of [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], from his childhood in Egypt to his participation in and later leadership of [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad]] to his merging of his organization with Al Qaeda.


[[Osama bin Laden]] is the person described the most, from his childhood in [[Saudi Arabia]] in a rich family, his participation in the [[jihad]] against the [[Soviet Union]] in [[Afghanistan]], his role as a financier of terrorist groups, his stay in [[Sudan]], his return to Afghanistan and his interactions with the [[Taliban]]. The [[1998 United States embassy bombings]] in [[Dar es Salaam]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]], are described, as is the [[USS Cole bombing|bombing of the USS ''Cole'']] in 2000.
[[Osama bin Laden]] is the person described the most, from his childhood in [[Saudi Arabia]] in a rich family, his participation in the [[jihad]] against the [[Soviet Union]] in [[Afghanistan]], his role as a financier of terrorist groups, his stay in [[Sudan]], his return to Afghanistan and his interactions with the [[Taliban]]. The [[1998 United States embassy bombings]] in [[Dar es Salaam]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Nairobi]], [[Kenya]], are described, as is the [[USS Cole bombing|bombing of the USS ''Cole'']] in 2000.
Line 29: Line 29:
The book also describes some of the problems with lack of cooperation between the FBI and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and other American government organizations that prevented them from uncovering the 9/11 plot in time.
The book also describes some of the problems with lack of cooperation between the FBI and the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and other American government organizations that prevented them from uncovering the 9/11 plot in time.


Because ''The Looming Tower'' is to a large extent focused on telling the story of the people involved it does not describe the 9/11 plot and its execution in much detail. It focuses more on the background and the conditions that produced the people who planned and staged the attack, and information about those who were combating terror against the United States.
Because ''The Looming Tower'' is to a large extent focused on telling the story of the people involved, it does not describe the 9/11 plot and its execution in much detail. It focuses more on the background and the conditions that produced the people who planned and staged the attack, and information about those who were combating terror against the United States.


== About the title ==
=== Quran reference in title ===
⚫
The words "looming towers" or "lofty towers" ({{lang|ar|بروج مشيدة}}) appear in the [[Quran]] {{Cite quran|4|78|s=ns|b=n}} (Sūrat an-Nisā'). According to Wright, Osama bin Laden, at a wedding before the 9/11 attack, quoted the line, repeating it three times: "Wherever you are, death will find you, even if you are in lofty towers" ({{lang|ar|"أينما تكونوا يدرككم الموت ولو كنتم في بروج مشيدة"}} ''<nowiki/>'aynamā takūnū yadrikkumu l-mawtu wa-law kuntum fī burūjin mušayyadatin'').<ref>[http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Wright/wright-con3.html Lawrence Wright Interview at The Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, page 3.]</ref>


⚫
== Awards and honors ==
⚫
The words "looming towers" or "lofty towers" ({{lang|ar|بروج مشيدة}}) appear in the [[Quran]] {{Cite quran|4|78|s=ns|b=n}} (Sūrat an-Nisā'). According to Wright, Osama bin Laden, at a wedding before the 9/11 attack, quoted the line, repeating it three times: "Wherever you are, death will find you, even if you are in lofty towers" ({{lang|ar|"أينما تكونوا يدرككم الموت ولو كنتم في بروج مشيدة"}} '' 'aynamā takūnū yadrikkumu l-mawtu wa-law kuntum fī burūjin mušayyadatin'').<ref>[http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Wright/wright-con3.html Lawrence Wright Interview at The Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, page 3.]</ref>

⚫
==Awards and honors==
*2006 [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]]
*2006 [[Los Angeles Times Book Prize]]
*2006 [[New York Times bestseller]]
*2006 [[New York Times bestseller]]
Line 52: Line 51:
*2009 ''[[Newsweek]]'' 50 Books for Our Times
*2009 ''[[Newsweek]]'' 50 Books for Our Times


==Television limited series==
== Television adaptation ==
{{Main|The Looming Tower (miniseries)}}
{{Main|The Looming Tower (miniseries)}}
A television limited series based on the book will air 10 episodes on [[Hulu]]. Actors include [[Alec Baldwin]] as CIA director [[George Tenet]], [[Jeff Daniels]] as [[John P. O'Neill|John O’Neill]], [[Tahar Rahim]] as [[Ali Soufan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortmyers.floridaweekly.com/news/2017-05-17/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/Sara_Rue_stars_in_new_Hallmark_movie.html|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavksy|first=Cindy|publisher=[[King Features]]|date=May 17, 2017|accessdate=August 16, 2017}}</ref> and [[Peter Sarsgaard]] as CIA analyst Martin Schmidt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortmyers.floridaweekly.com/news/2017-04-05/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/Actress_Cassidy_Gifford_is_daughter_of_Kathie_Lee_.html|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavksy|first=Cindy|publisher=[[King Features]]|date=April 5, 2017|accessdate=August 16, 2017}}</ref> It is set to premiere on February 28, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pedersen|first1=Erik|title=Hulu Sets Premiere Dates For ‘Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘The Path’ & Two New Series|url=http://deadline.com/2017/11/handmaids-tale-season-2-premiere-date-hulu-the-path-looming-tower-hard-sun-1202207886/|website=Deadline|accessdate=14 November 2017|date=14 November 2017}}</ref>
A 10-episode television miniseries based on the book will air on [[Hulu]]. Actors include [[Alec Baldwin]] as CIA director [[George Tenet]]; [[Jeff Daniels]] as [[John P. O'Neill|John O’Neill]]; [[Tahar Rahim]] as [[Ali Soufan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortmyers.floridaweekly.com/news/2017-05-17/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/Sara_Rue_stars_in_new_Hallmark_movie.html|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavksy|first=Cindy|publisher=[[King Features]]|date=May 17, 2017|accessdate=August 16, 2017}}</ref> and [[Peter Sarsgaard]] as CIA analyst Martin Schmidt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fortmyers.floridaweekly.com/news/2017-04-05/Arts_%28and%29_Entertainment_News/Actress_Cassidy_Gifford_is_daughter_of_Kathie_Lee_.html|title=Celebrity Extra|last=Elavksy|first=Cindy|publisher=[[King Features]]|date=April 5, 2017|accessdate=August 16, 2017}}</ref> It is set to premiere on February 28, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pedersen|first1=Erik|title=Hulu Sets Premiere Dates For ‘Handmaid’s Tale’, ‘The Path’ & Two New Series|url=http://deadline.com/2017/11/handmaids-tale-season-2-premiere-date-hulu-the-path-looming-tower-hard-sun-1202207886/|website=Deadline|accessdate=14 November 2017|date=14 November 2017}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
== External links ==
* {{OL work}}
* {{OL work}}
* [http://www.metacritic.com/books/authors/wrightlawrence/loomingtower The Looming Tower Reviews at Metacritic]
* [http://www.metacritic.com/books/authors/wrightlawrence/loomingtower The Looming Tower Reviews at Metacritic]
* [http://www.authorviews.com/authors/wright/video.php AuthorViews video interview about The Looming Tower]
* [http://www.authorviews.com/authors/wright/video.php AuthorViews video interview about The Looming Tower]
* [http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Wright/wright-con1.html Lawrence Wright Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley]
* [http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people6/Wright/wright-con1.html Lawrence Wright Interview: Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley]
* [http://uc.princeton.edu/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1734&Itemid=11 Lawrence Wright speaking at Princeton University on "Al Qaeda: Past, Present and Future". April 25, 2007]
* [http://uc.princeton.edu/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1734&Itemid=11 Lawrence Wright speaking at Princeton University on "Al Qaeda: Past, Present and Future". April 25, 2007]
*[http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Lawren ''After Words'' interview with Wright on ''The Looming Tower'', September 9, 2006]
*[http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Lawren ''After Words'' interview with Wright on ''The Looming Tower'', September 9, 2006]


Revision as of 01:49, 19 February 2018

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
Cover of the first US edition
AuthorLawrence Wright
Cover artistChip Kidd (designer)
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherAlfred A. Knopf (US)
Publication date
2006
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages480
ISBN978-0-375-41486-2
OCLC64592193
973.931 22
LC ClassHV6432.7 .W75 2006

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 is a 2006 non-fiction book by Lawrence Wright. It is a historical look at the way in which the militant organisation Al-Qaeda came into being, the background for various terrorist attacks and how they were investigated, and the events that led to the September 11 attacks. In 2007, Wright was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for the work.

Overview

The Looming Tower is largely focused on the people who conspired to commit the September 11 attacks, their motives and personalities, and how they interacted. The book starts with Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian religious scholar who visited the United States in the late 1940s and returned to his home to become an anti-West Islamist and eventually a martyr for his beliefs. There is also a portrait of Ayman al-Zawahiri, from his childhood in Egypt to his participation in and later leadership of Egyptian Islamic Jihad to his merging of his organization with Al Qaeda.

Osama bin Laden is the person described the most, from his childhood in Saudi Arabia in a rich family, his participation in the jihad against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, his role as a financier of terrorist groups, his stay in Sudan, his return to Afghanistan and his interactions with the Taliban. The 1998 United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, are described, as is the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000.

Lawrence Wright also describes in detail some of the Americans involved, in particular Richard A. Clarke, chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council, and John P. O'Neill, an Assistant Deputy Director of Investigation for the FBI who served as America's top bin Laden hunter until his retirement from the FBI in August 2001, after which he got a job as head of security at the World Trade Center, where he died in the 9/11 attacks.

The book also describes some of the problems with lack of cooperation between the FBI and the CIA and other American government organizations that prevented them from uncovering the 9/11 plot in time.

Because The Looming Tower is to a large extent focused on telling the story of the people involved, it does not describe the 9/11 plot and its execution in much detail. It focuses more on the background and the conditions that produced the people who planned and staged the attack, and information about those who were combating terror against the United States.

Quran reference in title

The words "looming towers" or "lofty towers" (بروج مشيدة) appear in the Quran 4:78 (Sūrat an-Nisā'). According to Wright, Osama bin Laden, at a wedding before the 9/11 attack, quoted the line, repeating it three times: "Wherever you are, death will find you, even if you are in lofty towers" ("أينما تكونوا يدرككم الموت ولو كنتم في بروج مشيدة" 'aynamā takūnū yadrikkumu l-mawtu wa-law kuntum fī burūjin mušayyadatin).[1]

Awards and honors

Television adaptation

Main article: The Looming Tower (miniseries)

A 10-episode television miniseries based on the book will air on Hulu. Actors include Alec Baldwin as CIA director George Tenet; Jeff Daniels as John O’Neill; Tahar Rahim as Ali Soufan,[2] and Peter Sarsgaard as CIA analyst Martin Schmidt.[3] It is set to premiere on February 28, 2018.[4]

References

  1. ^ Lawrence Wright Interview at The Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, page 3.
  2. ^ Elavksy, Cindy (May 17, 2017). "Celebrity Extra". King Features. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ Elavksy, Cindy (April 5, 2017). "Celebrity Extra". King Features. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  4. ^ Pedersen, Erik (14 November 2017). "Hulu Sets Premiere Dates For 'Handmaid's Tale', 'The Path' & Two New Series". Deadline. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
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