Perfect Soldiers: The 9/11 Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It

1. Soldiers : A house of learning ; Alone, abroad ; Friends ; Pilgrims ; The smell of paradise rising -- 2. The engineer : The rebirth of jihad ; Those without ; World war ; War, after war -- 3. The plot : The new recruits ; Preparations ; The last year ; That day -- Appendices : A. Mohamed el-Amir's Last Will and Testament ; B. The last night ; C. Bin Laden's 1996 declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places (abridged) ; C. Bin Laden's 1998 jihad against Jews and crusaders. "The definitive book on the nineteen men who brought such devastation and terror to this country . . . a well-told, meticulously researched cautionary tale." — Washington Post Book World The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on a scale few had imagined possible. In their aftermath, we exaggerated the men who perpetrated the attacks, shaping hasty and often mistaken reporting into caricatures we could comprehend—monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. In reality, the 9/11 hijackers were unexceptional men, not much different from countless others. It is this ordinary enemy, not the caricature, that we must understand if we are to have a legitimate hope of defeating terrorism. Using research undertaken in twenty countries on four continents, Los Angeles Times correspondent Terry McDermott provides gripping, authoritative portraits of the main players in the 9/11 plot. With brilliant reporting and thoughtful analysis, McDermott brings us a clearer, more nuanced, and in some ways more frightening, understanding of the landmark event of our time. "The very best [book] available . . . on the subject." — Los Angeles Times "Absorbing. . . . [A] richly textured narrative full of the sort of small, telling details that turn these men from faceless figures of evil into individuals." — New York Times "Bound to become one of the most insightful books ever published about September 11." — Houston Chronicle "Offers riveting accounts of the final weeks and days as the plotters prepared to carry out their horrific mission." — Booklist "Chilling." — Kirkus Reviews "This is journalism at its best." —Seymour M. Hersh, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist "Engrossing and deeply disturbing." — Publishers Weekly "The definitive book on the 19 men who brought such devastation and terror to this country ... a well-told, meticulously researched cautionary tale." — Washington Post Book World Using research undertaken in twenty countries on four continents, Los Angeles Times correspondent Terry McDermott provides gripping, authoritative portraits of the main players in the 9/11 plot. With brilliant reporting and thoughtful analysis, McDermott brings us a clearer, more nuanced, and in some ways more frightening, understanding of the landmark event of our time. The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on a scale few had imagined possible. In their aftermath, we exaggerated the men who perpetrated the attacks, shaping hasty and often mistaken reporting into caricatures we could comprehend—monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. In reality, the 9/11 hijackers were unexceptional men, not much different from countless others. It is this ordinary enemy, not the caricature, that we must understand if we are to have a legitimate hope of defeating terrorism. The attacks of September 11, 2001, were a calamity on a scale few had imagined possible. In their aftermath, we exaggerated the men who perpetrated the attacks, shaping hasty and often mistaken reporting into caricatures we could comprehend -- monsters and master criminals equal to the enormity of their crime. In reality, the 9/11 hijackers were unexceptional men, not much different from countless others. It is this ordinary enemy, not the caricature, that we must understand if we are to have a legitimate hope of defeating terrorism. Using research undertaken in twenty countries on four continents, Los Angeles Times correspondent Terry McDermott provides gripping, authoritative portraits of the main players in the 9/11 plot. With brilliant reporting and thoughtful analysis, McDermott brings us a clearer, more nuanced, and in some ways more frightening, understanding of the landmark event of our time.