September 06, 2006

Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower

When books appear on bestseller lists a bright neon red sign reading "skeptical" pops into my mind. I admit I'm a bit of a snob, but when bestseller lists contain The Da Vinci Code for years on end, and when an Ann Coulter collection of bad-jokes-as-polemic appears at number one immediately after its release you can understand my hesitation at basing the quality of a book on current popularity. That was my initial impression of Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower. However, from the reviews I've read it's a formidable tome. Reviewer Erik Spanberg praises the book writing,

Simply put, this is the most thorough and accessible account of the people, politics, and roiling theology behind Islamic terrorism. It should be required reading for every American; yes, it is that good.

I used to think the Sep. 11 Commission's report was "required reading." That was until we learned they knew about the Able Danger project but decided to mention it in the report. What else did they neglect? Even though we're almost five years from that terrible Tuesday there's much we need to learn about the people, events, and ideas that let to it. We're at a place where an Islamic instructor at the prestigious University of Wisconsin-Madison claims (and will teach his students) the U.S. government destroyed the twin towers. Hopefully Wright's book will help lead us down the path of truth.

"The Who and Why of 9/11" [via Milt's File]

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