Overview

In the last decade, America's priorities have changed. National security has become the primary concern for citizens and a top priority for government officials. Billions of dollars have been spent fighting the war on terror, and millions more have been spent by private citizens around the globe trying to understand how we got here. Investigative journalist and bestselling author of Holy War, Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know Peter Bergen is the authority who can answer that question. One of few Westerners to ever sit down with Osama bin Laden, Bergen is renowned for his analysis of al Qaeda and its evolution over the last decade. Now, he is breaking the story open in a way that readers have never seen before. Bergen picks up where Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower leaves off. He reveals the details of how al Qaeda has evolved since the 9/11 attacks, and tells the parallel story of how the U.S. government has changed its own course in response. Bergen has unprecedented insight that comes through many channels: internal documents from both al Qaeda and U.S. counterterrorism offices, in person interviews with al Qaeda members of the highest and lowest ranks, hundreds of interviews conducted with senior officials in the White House, Pentagon, CIA and the FBI, and his own experiences on the ground in Afghanistan. A Very Long War will be the definitive account of the war on terror--its failures and successes, the major players, and its likely future.

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9780743278942

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""""The Longest War"" is ambitious both in scope and aims...you need to understand al-Qaida, and Bergen, with this detailed, serious, scrupulously fair, perceptive and sometimes startling work has made a significant contribution to us doing exactly that.""--""The Guardian"" """"The Longest War"" is by far the best and most comprehensive book on the conflict so far.""--""Sunday Times "" """"The Longest War"" is his history of a daunting subject that succeeds where other books have failed. That's because the author was one of the few people onto al-Qaeda years before the instant experts cropped up. And he is still there watching, long after most of those so-called experts packed it in and moved on.""--""The Globe and Mail"" """"The Longest War"" is Mr. Bergen's magnum opus.... essential reading.""--""The Washington Times"" ""A grippingly important work that belongs on the shelf alongside ""The Looming Tower ""and ""Ghost Wars"".""---""The Daily Beast"" ""A revelatory, pull-no-punches history of the War on Terror, from before 9/11 to the present day...One of the deepest and most disturbing investigations of one of the defining issues of our era.""""--Kirkus, ""starred review ""Drawing on vast firsthand knowledge of the region and mining a huge stock of primary and secondary material, including his own interviews with combatants, the book's depth of detail and breadth of insight make it one of the more useful analysis of the ongoing conflict.""--""Publishers Weekly"", starred review ""For readers interested in a highly informed, wide-angled, single-volume briefing on the war on terror so far, ""The Longest War ""is clearly that essential book.""--Michiko Kakutani, ""The New York Times"" ""His important history of the war on terrorism....The greatest strength of ""The Longest War"" is that it provides a detailed history of what has occurred since al-Qaeda first appeared on the terrorist scene. Uniquely, it tells the history from three sides: the Americans involved in prosecuting the war; ordinary Muslims, the vast majority of whom remain unmoved by bin Laden's siren call; and the many terrorists and sympathizers whom Bergen has sought out in the field or whose voluminous writings he expertly synthesizes. ""The Longest War"" is also a very good read.""--""Washington Post"" ""For years, I tried to read every new novel about how 9/11 affected our lives. Some were very thoughtful, but I always came away unsatisfied, feeling that the authors had worked hard but had somehow fallen short. As I read the stunning first section of Peter L. Bergen's new book on the war between the United States and Al Qaeda, I realized I had been looking in the wrong genre. None of the novels were as effective or moving as ""The Longest War,"" which is a history of our time. ... ""The Longest War"" is one of the most important accounts on the subject to appear in years. But be warned: You will read it and weep."" -Thomas E. Ricks, ""The New York Times Book Review"""

For readers interested in a highly informed, wide-angled, single-volume briefing on the war on terror so far, The Longest War is clearly that essential book. --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

A revelatory, pull-no-punches history of the War on Terror, from before 9/11 to the present day...One of the deepest and most disturbing investigations of one of the defining issues of our era. --Kirkus, starred review The Longest War is his history of a daunting subject that succeeds where other books have failed. That's because the author was one of the few people onto al-Qaeda years before the instant experts cropped up. And he is still there watching, long after most of those so-called experts packed it in and moved on. -- The Globe and Mail Drawing on vast firsthand knowledge of the region and mining a huge stock of primary and secondary material, including his own interviews with combatants, the book's depth of detail and breadth of insight make it one of the more useful analysis of the ongoing conflict. -- Publishers Weekly , starred review A grippingly important work that belongs on the shelf alongside The Looming Tower and Ghost Wars . --- The Daily Beast The Longest War is by far the best and most comprehensive book on the conflict so far. -- Sunday Times The Longest War is ambitious both in scope and aims...you need to understand al-Qaida, and Bergen, with this detailed, serious, scrupulously fair, perceptive and sometimes startling work has made a significant contribution to us doing exactly that. -- The Guardian His important history of the war on terrorism....The greatest strength of The Longest War is that it provides a detailed history of what has occurred since al-Qaeda first appeared on the terrorist scene. Uniquely, it tells the history from three sides: the Americans involved in prosecuting the war; ordinary Muslims, the vast majority of whom remain unmoved by bin Laden's siren call; and the many terrorists and sympathizers whom Bergen has sought out in the field or whose voluminous writings he expertly synthesizes. The Longest War is also a very good read. -- Washington Post The Longest War is Mr. Bergen's magnum opus.... essential reading. -- The Washington Times For readers interested in a highly informed, wide-angled, single-volume briefing on the war on terror so far, The Longest War is clearly that essential book. --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times For years, I tried to read every new novel about how 9/11 affected our lives. Some were very thoughtful, but I always came away unsatisfied, feeling that the authors had worked hard but had somehow fallen short. As I read the stunning first section of Peter L. Bergen's new book on the war between the United States and Al Qaeda, I realized I had been looking in the wrong genre. None of the novels were as effective or moving as The Longest War, which is a history of our time. ... The Longest War is one of the most important accounts on the subject to appear in years. But be warned: You will read it and weep. -Thomas E. Ricks, The New York Times Book Review

Author Information

Peter Bergen, a British journalist, is a veteran of print and television journalism and has done extensive reporting about al-Qaeda for more than a decade. He has appeared on the BBC, Channel 4, CNN, and NBC. His work has been cited hundreds of times by leading magazines and newspapers around the world.

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