Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States. As these lives unfold, we see revealed: the crosscurrents of modern Islam that helped to radicalize Zawahiri and bin Laden. Prince Turki's transformation from bin Laden's ally to his enemy. The Looming Tower broadens and deepens our knowledge of these signal events by taking us behind the scenes. Here is Sayyid Qutb, founder of the modern Islamist movement, lonely and despairing as he meets Western culture up close in 1940s America; the privileged childhoods of bin Laden and Zawahiri; family life in the al-Qaeda compounds of Sudan and Afghanistan; O'Neill's high-wire act in balancing his all-consuming career with his equally entangling personal life--he was living with three women, each of them unaware of the others' existence--and the nitty-gritty of turf battles among U. Brilliantly conceived and written, The Looming Tower draws all elements of the story into a galvanizing narrative that adds immeasurably to our understanding of how we arrived at September 11, 2001. The richness of its new information, and the depth of its perceptions, can help us deal more wisely and effectively with the continuing terrorist threat. It is a thorough and interesting work. As someone who has read quite a bit about the players here, my expectations were modest. But I was impressed with the clarity of the story-telling. It was also impressive in the level of detail he presents. It is a thorough and interesting work. As someone who has read quite a bit about the players here, my expectations were modest. But I was impressed with the clarity of the story-telling. It was also impressive in the level of detail he presents. It is clear from his descriptions that turf wars played a larger role than did the institutional barriers to sharing information, although the latter were not trivial. This is highly recommended for anyone interested in the background to the terror events of the 21st century, clear, compelling and informative. The Pulitzer Committee thought so, awarding Wright their 2007 award for general non-fiction. The book earned a slew of other awards as well. It is a slightly edited journal entry. There was a nice lunch place that had good, affordable chili and a video jukebox. We felt the thud of the first attempt at the towers while at our desks. A friend lost a sister. A nephew knew one of the firemen who had died. We still grieved as New Yorkers, Americans and human beings. Mary Ann was running late getting out to work. I was still in bed. We were watching the looming tower television coverage when we saw the second explosion. In the shot, from the north of the towers, it was the looming tower at first obvious what had happened. The reporter on that station I do not recall which thought she had seen something and had it re-run. In the upper right hand corner a dot appeared and grew slightly. It was clear that it had been the cause of the explosion in the south tower. It was also clear that this was not just a tragic explosion but a coordinated attack. One said he saw a small plane go into the north tower. Another swore he had seen a prop plane. Later, I heard that one of the towers had collapsed and could not believe it, presuming that some portion of the building might have toppled. It was quite jarring to see footage of the entire building collapsing in upon itself. Mary Ann was in various states the looming tower weeping at many moments this day. I heaved with near sobs myself. It was too much to take in. I tried calling my brother at home to see if he was ok. There was no one there. On the way we ran into a neighbor who had been working in the downtown area at the time of the attack. He had been able to get out unscathed. Giuliani was holding a news conference. There was talk about The looming tower Laden as a prime suspect. We arrived ahead of schedule so drove around the neighborhood, and then experienced the strangest vision of the day. But as we drove around it appeared that there was a flock of birds heading south. Pieces of paper, letter sized, or at least paper that had once been letter sized wafted to the ground, some charred, in vast numbers. People on the street stopped to pick them up. I saw a child snatch one. A middle-aged lady grabbed another. People gazed upward at this unexpected precipitation. I noticed that the windshield looked as if it had been had driven a bit too close to a volcanic explosion. There was a coating of streaked soot on the glass. We got the girls at 6. We later asked the girls if their mother or their grandparents had talked with them about the events of the day. It was a quiet car on the drive north. Back home, we watched coverage throughout the evening. Tash, only 8 at the time, did not seem to grasp the significance, although she accepted