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The Terror Years

From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State

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The Terror Years

By: Lawrence Wright
Narrated by: John H. Mayer, Lawrence Wright
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About this listen

Ten powerful pieces first published in The New Yorker recall the path terror in the Middle East has taken from the rise of al-Qaeda in the 1990s to the recent beheadings of reporters and aid workers by ISIS.

With the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright became generally acknowledged as one of our major journalists writing on terrorism in the Middle East. This collection draws on several articles he wrote while researching that book as well as many that he's written since, following where and how al-Qaeda and its core cultlike beliefs have morphed and spread. They include an indelible impression of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom of silence under the control of the religious police; the Syrian film industry, then compliant at the edges but already exuding a feeling of the barely masked fury that erupted into civil war; and the 2006-11 Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, a study in disparate values of human lives. Others continue to look into al-Qaeda as it forms a master plan for its future, experiences a rebellion from within the organization, and spins off a growing web of terror in the world. The American response is covered in profiles of two FBI agents and a chief of the CIA. It ends with the recent devastating piece about the capture and beheading by ISIS of four American journalists and aid workers, and how our government failed to handle the situation.

©2016 Lawrence Wright (P)2016 Random House Audio
21st Century Entertainment & Celebrities Freedom & Security Islam Middle East War & Crisis Royalty War King Celebrity Civil War Espionage Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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Critic reviews

"Wright displays his top-notch reporting in stories about a disintegrating Syria, the never-ending conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians, the faith-based beliefs that undergird al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, and the massive failures of American intelligence agencies. Yet more great work from a dedicated journalist." ( Kirkus Reviews)

What listeners say about The Terror Years

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Must Read

Essential listening that interrogates and sums up the impact of terror in the making of the modern world.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great overview of terrorism that's the modern era

Enjoyed this title. Wright writes with the clarity of a witness and the authenticity of an expert.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Narration so bad I won't be able to listen.

Performance wins *minus five* stars from me. Therefore, even if the story was (it probably IS) a 5-star affair, over all the score would be a neat zero. Therefore, I think I've been quite generous.

Terrible terrible shame. "The Looming Tower", read BY THE AUTHOR, was A M A Z I N G. Totally totally amazing.

WHY WHY WHY would you choose someone with SUCH a weird voice to read a 17+ hour audiobook!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Don't get me wrong, it's an *interesting* voice. Not necessarily unpleasant. But it's...it sounds like something from a comedy sketch.

Gutted.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Yawn!

Did not enjoy.
This is basically a rehash of The Looming Tower (which was good) and some unbelievably boring stories about working at a news paper.
If you've read The Looming Tower then skip this book. If you haven't, get that instead.

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2 people found this helpful