Desperado Under the Eaves: Bookshelf

*Under Construction*

For blog-readers who are also connoisseurs of the non-electronic written word, I've decided to create a bibliography of some of my favorite books on some of my favorite topics. Hopefully, this list will prove useful to anyone who also happens to be interested in these topics. (Note: the books listed under each topic-heading are organized alphabetically by author's last name.)

Counter-Terrorism, al-Qaeda, and Islamist Terrorist Groups:

Ghost Wars (Steve Coll): while technically a country-specific book about Afghanistan, Steve Coll's Ghost Wars provides an essential background and history of the Afghan-Soviet War - the violent midwife of the modern radical jihadist movement - and the United States' clandestine support of the Afghan mujahideen. Ghost Wars is quite possibly the single best book on the conflict and the post-war history of Afghanistan prior to the 9/11 attacks (specifically, up to September 9, 2001, the date of the al-Qaeda assassination of Afghan rebel commander Ahmad Shah Massoud). Because of its invaluable information on a rogue's gallery of the modern jihadist movement's top guns - including Abdullah Azzam, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and, of course, Osama bin Laden - I've included the book up here, but there's also a link below under my "Country-Specific" heading. This is one of my all-time favorite books.

Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism Since 1970 (Thomas Hegghammer): Thomas Hegghammer's excellent book about jihadists and Islamism in Saudi Arabia is a must-read for counter-terrorism researchers and students of Middle East security studies alike. Hegghammer traces the development of pan-Islamist thinking in the Kingdom through the heyday of the Afghan-Soviet War and its continuing mutations after the war's completion. He also details the evolution of the Saudi government's toleration of Islamist/jihadist ideology - from active encouragement during the Afghan-Soviet War, to open hostility in the aftermath of the 1995 bombing of a military building in Riyadh and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers. For a better book review than I could write, please refer to this one published in the Terrorism and Political Violence journal.

The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia (Gregory Johnsen): published in November 2012, Gregory Johnsen's Last Refuge is the most recently-published book on this list. That, however, is by no means a criticism: this splendid history of al-Qaeda's growth, destruction, and eventual resurrection in Yemen is a trove of invaluable information, told with a panache that really draws you into the story that Johnsen is trying to tell. And what a story it is: a story of how Yemen's internal politics allowed al-Qaeda to grow and thrive; a story of how US and Yemeni pressure decimated the terror group's operations and structure; a story of drone wars, canceled aid, civil wars, and popular revolutions; and a story of the rebirth of Yemeni terror in the form of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. A must read.

Confronting al-Qaeda: New Strategies to Combat Terrorism (Kevin McGrath): the books above have focused on Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, but Kevin McGrath's Confronting al-Qaeda, while touching on all these countries, spends much more time analyzing Afghanistan and its dysfunctional next-door neighbor: Pakistan. McGrath's policy-oriented book doesn't focus so much on al-Qaeda's newer, break-away "franchises." Instead, he hones in on the remains of al-Qaeda Central, tucked into the lawless Wild West of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA). However, his policy prescriptions for attempting to undercut al-Qaeda's political support apply no less to its regional franchises than to the remains of the group's central core.

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Lawrence Wright): Lawrence Wright's Looming Tower is one of the quintessential books detailing the development of al-Qaeda and planning, run up to, and execution of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Middle East (General & Country-Specific):

Generally: