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Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright is the author of The Looming Tower, a gripping account of the rise of al-Qaeda. He's a master of investigative journalism, bringing complex histories to life with clear, direct prose.
The terror years
Synopsis
This collection of eleven powerful pieces, originally published in The New Yorker, traces the trajectory of terror in the Middle East from the relatively peaceful 1990s in Israel to the recent beheadings by ISIS. Drawing on extensive research, the book explores the evolution and spread of Al Qaeda's core beliefs, examining Saudi Arabia under religious police, the Syrian film industry's simmering unrest, and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. It also delves into Al-Qaeda's internal struggles and global expansion, concluding with an analysis of the American government's response to the capture and beheadings of four American journalists by ISIS.