The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century | Steve Coll

The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century | Steve Coll | Coll answers questions I did not know I had

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The Bin Ladens: An...

	The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century Steve Coll Penguin Press HC, The, 2008 - 688 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Superbly researched and interesting book - Highly recommended

I enjoyed this book a lot - It's a fascinating history of a family's rise from nothing to high influence in Saudi Arabia. Steve Coll and his team have researched this very well and provide a high resolution story of the Bin Laden family. By their close association to the Royal Family, we find out about the secretive ways in which decisions are/were made.

The middle east is a vastly different place from any other on earth - here's a great insight into a very different culture. If you're into the history of interesting places that influence your every day life, this will not disappoint.

Not sure why a previous reviewer felt compelled to review his life in Saudi instead of the book, but for sure the book is more interesting than his life.

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Coll answers questions I did not know I had

What a tale. Except it is all true. Whereas Mike Moore threw out facts without much context, Coll provides well-researched history and explanations, making our weird relationship with The House of Saud that much more clear. And Murky.

The Bin Laden Family is far more complex and interesting than I would have thought possible, and as alien and strange, when compared to western society, as you could imagine.

This is an important book, one that provide the curious with information, background, and a glimmer of understanding as to how Osama became who he was, and how his family life, Muslim marital and divorce practices, and the strange, complex, and bizarre entity we know as the Bin Laden family came to be.

The only thing worse than learning how US policies led to 9/11 is seeing how we have coddled and knowingly supported one of the most corrupt family dictatorships in the world - the Sauds. Eye-opening, fascinating and hard to put down. I highly recommend this book.

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Another Pulitzer for Coll?

I think this is an incredibly well-written and well-researched book. Difficult to put down. The story of money, religion, politics, and history. Mostly though, it is the story of the "American Dream", Saudi-style: the success of one man's sojourn in search of a better economic opportunity.

thorough and informative

a must-read for those who missed the connections- or- those who want a insightful review of the rise to power of the el Sauds and the Bin Ladens in the Arabian peninsula in the last century

Good, but loooong!

A well done history of an interesting family large enough to fill a village.
It's smooth reading. Admire the research. Would have admired some consolidation even more. This book gives a really good perspective of what the Arab elite culture is really like.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5

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