Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright is an American journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, he is a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and a fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as the author of the much recommended book The Looming Tower, an account of Al Qaeda and the run-up to 9/11.
Books by Lawrence Wright
“Given what’s happened in the Middle East, and in relations between Israel and its neighbors since, we tend, in hindsight, to downplay this deal, to see it as superseded by later events. But Israel and Egypt are still at peace, they still have diplomatic relations, and that relationship is still one of the few pillars for peace in the region. This book is key to understanding that event and to understanding the Carter presidency. Wright is an incredible journalist and a phenomenal writer. You can’t put this book down.” Read more...
Robert Lieberman, Political Scientist
The End of October: A Novel
by Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright is a journalist whose account of Al Qaeda and the run-up to 9/11, The Looming Tower, has been recommended an astonishing 7 times in our interviews with experts (the other books to be reach this number of recommendations are Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Evelyn Waugh's Scoop). The End of October is a novel, but it's about a virus that starts in Asia and turns into a global pandemic. Though "eerily prescient" is one of those clichés that are too often applied to books, it does seem The End of October is indeed, um, eerily prescient.
God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State
by Lawrence Wright
American author Lawrence Wright's book about 9/11, The Looming Tower, is one of our most frequently recommended books. God Save Texas is quite a different book—part memoir, part reportage, part travelogue about his home state, Texas.
The Looming Tower
by Lawrence Wright
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright is a detailed narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews. Find out below why it is one of Five Books' most recommended books.
Interviews where books by Lawrence Wright were recommended
The best books on Terrorism, recommended by Audrey Kurth Cronin
It’s hard to remember when in the midst of one, but terrorism campaigns do always end. Audrey Kurth Cronin, author of How Terrorism Ends, recommends the best books on terrorism.
The best books on Osama bin Laden, recommended by Peter Bergen
Many thought that 9/11 was the start of an Al-Qaeda assault on the West, but it turned out to be Bin Laden’s Pearl Harbor – a victory that led to strategic defeat – says Peter Bergen, one of the few reporters who met the Saudi-born militant.
The best books on Egypt and America, recommended by Lloyd Gardner
The historian reflects on the past 60 years of American involvement in Egypt and tells us, after the Arab Spring, what may make the coming years different
The best books on Al-Qaeda, recommended by Peter Taylor
The award-winning BBC documentary maker Peter Taylor tells us what he learned in his ten years investigating Al-Qaeda, and suggests what we should read to understand where the group came from, and what it’s still trying to do
The best books on Crime and Terror, recommended by Simon Conway
Director of Landmine Action who served in British army with the Black Watch, talks crime and terror and explores the extent to which al Qaeda is the creation of the Pakistani Intelligence Services backed by Saudi money
The best books on Terrorism, recommended by Mary Habeck
The Professor of Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins University picks five books you must read to understand the War on Terror, starting with one that tries to define what terrorism is.
The best books on 9/11, recommended by Yosri Fouda
Who was Osama bin Laden? How critical was he to the 9/11 attacks on the United States? What happened in the first 100 days at Guantanamo Bay? Who was in charge of the United States when George W Bush went into hiding? What should we make of all the conspiracy theories that have sprung up around the events of that day? Yosri Fouda, the veteran Egyptian investigative reporter, author and TV host talks us through his choice of the best books on 9/11.
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1
Stayin Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working Class
by Jefferson Cowie -
2
Panic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s
by Meg Jacobs -
3
Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President
by Jimmy Carter -
4
His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life
by Jonathan Alter -
5
Thirteen Days in September: The Dramatic Story of the Struggle for Peace
by Lawrence Wright
The Best Jimmy Carter Books, recommended by Robert Lieberman
The Best Jimmy Carter Books, recommended by Robert Lieberman
For good books to understand Jimmy Carter and his presidency, it’s important to understand the context in which he was elected and served as president, argues political scientist Robert Lieberman. Here, he recommends five books on Jimmy Carter, winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize: “Carter was who he seemed to be, which is not something you often say about successful politicians.”
