(Little, Brown, $28)
“Any discussion of Islamic terrorism is likely to begin with one name, Osama bin Laden,” said Eric Liebetrau in The Boston Globe. Yet as journalists Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer argue in their gripping new book, the conversation might as easily begin with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In a “rapid-fire narrative that reads like an espionage thriller,” the authors recount U.S. law enforcement’s decade-long effort to capture the man who was the de facto operational leader of al Qaida throughout the terrorist group’s most devastatingly effective years. A U.S.-educated Kuwaiti citizen of Pakistani descent, Mohammed was orchestrating deadly anti-U.S. attacks long before he won bin Laden’s approval to use planes as missiles for the 9/11 offensive.
It’s startling how long Mohammed was able to operate under the radar, said Joshua Sinai in The Washington Times. Despite his involvement in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, all but a few people in U.S. intelligence presumed him to be a peripheral figure until 9/11. Mohammed carried on with his brutal work once the hunt heated up, personally beheading the U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002 while a video camera was rolling. “One wishes the authors were more attentive in tying up loose ends” in this complex story, but they’ve provided deeper context than any journalists before them.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Most of us still know too little about “KSM,” said Steve Weinberg in The Seattle Times. As McDermott and Meyer point out, his story may never get the public attention it deserves because U.S. officials would rather not have to answer questions about the 183 waterboarding sessions he was subjected to after his 2003 capture. Last week’s announcement that Mohammed will soon face a military tribunal may finally signal that the KSM saga is nearing resolution. Except, as the authors remind us, that many jihadists he recruited remain active and at large. That unsettling thought provides a “sobering conclusion” to “a remarkable book.”
-
August 28 editorial cartoonsCartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include Taylor Swift's wedding bells, Donald Trump's objections to mail-in voting, and thoughts and prayers
-
How Israel's 'Legitimisation Cell' is justifying journalist killings in GazaThe Explainer Evidence suggests a secret intelligence unit is portraying Palestinian journalists as Hamas operatives
-
Why the world is going mad about Taylor Swift's weddingThe pop star unveiled diamond ring in cosy snaps with fiancé Travis Kelce earlier this week
-
Also of interest...in picture books for grown-upsfeature How About Never—Is Never Good for You?; The Undertaking of Lily Chen; Meanwhile, in San Francisco; The Portlandia Activity Book
-
Author of the week: Karen Russell
feature Karen Russell could use a rest.
-
The Double Life of Paul de Man by Evelyn Barish
feature Evelyn Barish “has an amazing tale to tell” about the Belgian-born intellectual who enthralled a generation of students and academic colleagues.
-
Book of the week: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis
feature Michael Lewis's description of how high-frequency traders use lightning-fast computers to their advantage is “guaranteed to make blood boil.”
-
Also of interest...in creative rebellion
feature A Man Called Destruction; Rebel Music; American Fun; The Scarlet Sisters
-
Author of the week: Susanna Kaysen
feature For a famous memoirist, Susanna Kaysen is highly ambivalent about sharing details about her life.
-
You Must Remember This: Life and Style in Hollywood’s Golden Age by Robert Wagner
feature Robert Wagner “seems to have known anybody who was anybody in Hollywood.”
-
Book of the week: Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire by Peter Stark
feature The tale of Astoria’s rise and fall turns out to be “as exciting as anything in American history.”