How is it possible for one middle-aged Saudi millionaire to threaten the world’s only superpower? This is the question at the center of Jonathan Randal’s riveting, timely account of Osama bin Laden’s role in the rise of terrorism in the Middle East. Randal–a journalist whose experience of the Middle East spans the past forty years–makes clear how Osama’s life epitomizes the fatal collision between twenty-first-century Islam and the West, and he describes the course of Osama’s estrangement from both the West and the Saudi petro-monarchy of which his family is a part. He examines Osama’s terrorist activities before September 11, 2001, and shows us how, after the attack on the World Trade Center, Osama presented the West with something new in the annals of contemporary terrorism: an independently wealthy entrepreneur with a seemingly worldwide following ready to do his bidding. Randal explores the possibility that Osama offered the Saudis his Al-Qaeda forces to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991; he traces the current sources of Osama’s money; and he tells us why the Iraq war has played into the hands of the terrorists. With his long-maintained sources in the Middle East and his intimate understanding of the region, Randal gives us a clearer explanation than any we have had of the whys and wherefores of the world’s most prominent and feared terrorist.

Osama: The Making of a Terrorist

Politics & Social Sciences

Randal, Jonathan

Politics & Government

KNOPF

How is it possible for one middle-aged Saudi millionaire to threaten the world's only superpower? This is the question at the center of Jonathan Randal's riveting, timely account of Osama bin Laden's life and role in the rise of terrorism in the Middle East. Randal traces the current sources of Osama's money and tells us why the Iraq war has played into the hands of the terrorists, while also providing essential insight and background on the history of American involvement in the Middle East. With his long-maintained sources in the Middle East and his intimate understanding of the region, Randal gives us a clearer explanation than any we have had of the whys and wherefores of the world's most prominent and feared terrorist.

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

Vintage

Going All the Way: 2

Viking Adult

The tragedy of Lebanon: Christian warlords, Israeli adventurers, and American bunglers

The Tragedy of Lebanon is a reissue of Jonathan Randal's acclaimed 1983 study of the rightwing Christian militias in Lebanon that in 1975 plunged the country into a decades-long cycle of war and civil conflict. For this 2012 reissue of the book, Randal added a piercing new Preface reflecting on the meaning of those events, both then and today. As the Senior Foreign Correspondent of The Washington Post, Randal covered Lebanon intensively from 1974 through 1983, having already reported from Vietnam and several other war zones. The Tragedy of Lebanon shows his powers of observation, astute analysis, and storytelling at their very best.

History

Asia

Chatto & Windus, Ltd.

The Tragedy of Lebanon

Middle East

Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group)

Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers, and American Bunglers

Just World Books

Comment un seul homme peut-il menacer l'équilibre de la planète ? La question est au centre de cette enquête exceptionnelle, tant par la profondeur de son analyse que par l'originalité de sa réflexion, consacrée à l'homme le plus recherché du monde : Oussama Ben Laden. Jonathan Randal bouleverse la légende du milliardaire saoudien. À contre-courant des idées reçues qui font de Ben Laden l'allié de Saddam Hussein et de l'Arabie Saoudite, le financier du terrorisme à l'échelle internationale, ou le défenseur des musulmans opprimés, Randal découvre un puritain parfaitement honnête dans ses convictions et logique dans sa démarche politique. De sa jeunesse dédiée à l'étude du coran et à la stricte observance du wahhabisme à son rôle au premier plan de « l'Axe du Mal », Oussama Ben Laden incarne un phénomène nouveau dans les annales du terrorisme contemporain autant que la collision fatale entre l'Islam du XXIe siècle et l'Occident. Réfutant tous les clichés, Randal démonte une véritable logique de guerre et renvoie dos à dos deux formes d'obscurantisme et d'intolérance à fondement essentiellement religieux : celle des terroristes et celle des néo-conservateurs américains. Ce grand document est un livre qui fera date.

Oussama: La fabrication d'un terroriste

Social Sciences

ALBIN MICHEL

324pages. in8. broché. Jonathan Randal, un des meilleurs journalistes du monde, explique, pour la première fois, comment la folie des 'seigneurs de la guerre' maronites, l''aventurisme' de certains chefs israéliens et les hésitations des diplomates américains ont finalement plongé un peuple dans un bain de sang et réduit un Etat à néant. Il retrace l'histoire à peine croyable de la prise de contrôle par les maronites des banques, du commerce, des armes et de tous les trafics du Moyen-Orient. Il raconte enfin comment, par une cruelle ironie, la culture d'un peuple riche de mille ans d'histoire a été submergée et détruite. {La Guerre de mille ans} est beaucoup plus qu'un extraordinaire reportage. C'est le portrait sans fard d'un pays difficile et fascinant, un livre sans lequel il est vain d'espérer comprendre quoi que ce soit au Moyen-Orient. Jonathan Randal est correspondant itinérant du {Washington Post}. Ses confrères le considèrent comme un des meilleurs connaisse

La guerre de mille ans

Reference

Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

GRASSET

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Randal, Jonathan. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Randal, Jonathan