Osama bin Laden: A War Against the West

Grade 6 & Up--In preparation since 1998, Landau's title nonetheless has little to offer readers who want to know what makes this man tick, beyond generalities about Islamic fundamentalism and a thin framework of facts fleshed out by suppositions. Of course, being private, cagey, and thoroughly conversant in techniques of disinformation, bin Laden keeps his past as shadowy as his present whereabouts-but as Landau's source notes are limited to previously published print resources, she obviously hasn't tried very hard. She does lay out bin Laden's family history, trace his general movements over the past 20 years, convey a sense of his methods and organizational skills, and, while separating him sharply from the Muslim mainstream, notes his ominous popularity in much of the Middle East.