Throughout the 1990s a vast conflict was brewing. The storm broke on September 11th 2001. Since then much of the world has seen invasions, bombings, battles and riots. Hundreds of thousands of people have died. These are the 9/11 Wars.
Jason Burke, a first-hand witness of many of the conflict's key moments, has written the definitive account of its course. At once investigation, reportage and contemporary history, The 9/11 Wars is based on hundreds of interviews with participants including desperate refugees and senior intelligence officials, ministers and foot-soldiers, active militants and their victims. Burke cuts through the myth and propaganda of all sides to reveal the reality behind well-known - and lesser-known episodes. Events are given a pattern and relationship previously missing; so too are critical issues facing the world today- the tensions between local identities and globalization, the rising forces of Islamism and nationalism, the attraction of extremism and violence for some.
Whether reporting on the riots in France or the attack on Mumbai, suicide bombers in Iraq or British troops fighting in Helmand, Jason Burke has written an essential book for understanding the twenty-first century.
