Synopsis
Osama bin Laden is best known as a radical Islamic fundamentalist and financier of international terrorism. He was born into a wealthy Yemeni family in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1957. One of fifty-two children, he was just twenty-two years old when he left his father's construction firm to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. Trained by American CIA, Bin Laden eventually formed his own organization, al Qaeda. It is devoted to supporting terrorism against all non-Muslim countries, and specifically America. Wanted in connection to many terrorist acts—including the bombings of American embassies in Africa, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and most recently the destruction of New York's World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon on September 11—he remains a threat to America and its allies.
Library Journal
Gr 6-10-The popular television show Biography has generated print treatments of people in the news. These topical titles cover both the personal and political lives of these leaders. Each author maintains a high level of objectivity given the sensitive and controversial subject matter. Personal anecdotes and psychological insights are woven into the story of how these men rose to power and what they have done, or in Hussein's case, did, to maintain it. All three books are current through the spring of 2003. (Hussein ends with a paragraph noting the unraveling of the Iraqi regime and the missing dictator.) Each book has black-and-white and color photos.-Carol Fazioli, formerly at The Brearley School, New York City Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.