No conspiracy, just an almighty screw up - Rated 
There are few suprises in this book. One of the twin pillars of the narrative are the extent to which world governments encouraged the wahabi strain of Islam as long as the oil kept flowing. No suprise. The US's continued support for Israel has more to do with East Coast campaign contributions than enthusiasm for the nutters who choose to live there. The second is the level of incompetence which the US security services managed in the run up to 9/11. They weren't helped by out of date IT, only a dozen Arabic speakers in the whole CIA/FBI or by the obssession of each strand (FBI, CIA, NSA) to safeguard their sources, mainly from other government departments; but the level of incompetence beggers belief, driven by a willful misinterpretation of rules meant to improve the chances of prosecutions. This level of beauracratic inertia will be familiar to readers of Bob Woodward's "State of Denial" wherein he details the tortuous decision making processes of US government. The title of the book is misleading, only the last thirty pages refer specifically to the planning of 9/11, but the wealth of information, which can't have been easy to obtain, make this a must read.
A work of fiction....about the "official conspiracy theory" - Rated 
If you really think "Al Qaeda" (which is just a name the CIA gave to the mujahadeen during the afganistan vs Russia war) is responsible for 9/11. You need to see the 9/11 victims families marching through new york city every year demonstrating against the lies and disninformation the "media" propaganda machine has put out. All for a conquest of countries and business interests, a branch of the U.S. government engineered and allowed 9/11 to happen. If you believe the "official" conspiracy theory then you need to read a few books, watch a few videos and wake up to the fact that this event really happened in a way you need to understand and expose.
4 years research behind me, myspace profile, facebook profile, digg profile, you tube profile all on the deception of 9/11.
Wake the hell up!!
Thrilling reading - but possibly fatally flawed - Rated 
This exhaustively-researched book is essential reading for anyone interested in the build-up to the 9/11 outrage, especially if you are looking for a sometimes dramatised version of the - I strongly suspect - official side of the story.
But beware - there are very different views on what happened, if you take the trouble to investigate the alternative evidence available.
The prime example is the name of the dark global shadow permeating the whole book - al Quaeda.
According to Wright, al-Qaeda (meaning the base) was named on August 11, 1988, at a meeting in Peshawar attended by Osama Bin Laden and called by Sheikh Abdullah Azzam to discuss the future of jihad and the danger of an Afghan civil war.
According to the BBC's Adam Curtis documentary The Power of Nightmares (DVDs of this are available but difficult to find), the name is largely an invention of the Americans.
In the third of the BBC's brilliant three-part series by Adam Curtis, we learn that the name al-Quaeda emerged in 2001 during the FBI's trial in Manhatten of four men accused of the East African embassy bombings.
A key witness Jamal al-Fadl, who had stolen money from Bin Laden and was given US taxpayers' cash to stay in the country, said Bin Laden headed a well-organised international organisation he called al Quaeda.
Actually, the documentary claimed, Bin Laden did not use the term until after 9/11 when he realised the Americans was referring to his organisation by that name.
There are many contradictions too in the work - Bin Laden is said to live his life very closely in line with the Koran, opposing the harming of innocents, as did the Prophet. He is portrayed as generous, weakly, almost gentle. Yet he is credited with numerous horrors in which thousands of innocent people were slaughtered.
Something doesn't add up.
Then there are the conversations between various secretive and much sought after terrorists - and several other major players on both sides - reported in direct speech. Good for dramatic effect. Bad for authenticity surely?
But I thoroughly enjoyed the this truly unputdownable mine of information.
Make up your own mind.
Fantastic - Rated
All of the reviews are right; this book is sensational. It's a detailed, and clear description of the rise of militant Islamism, of jihadis and terrorists, leading up to the events of 9/11. But written in clear, precise and hugely readable language. It really does read like a thriller. If you're interested in this sort of thing, this book is highly recommended
Best 9/11 book by far - Rated
Just when you think that there is nothing new to be written about 9/11 and AQ, up pops this remarkably revealing, beautifully written and completely absorbing book
Some very suprising revelations (not for conspiarcy theory nuts i hasten to add) not least that Bin Laden may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Thoroughly recommended
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