Al Qaeda.

AL QAEDA

The True Story of Radical Islam

by Jason Burke

published by Penguin Books

ISBN 9780141019123

price 7.99 [pounds sterling] paperback

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To most in the West, Al Qaeda is seen as a byword for terror: a deadly highly organised fanatical group masterminded by Osama bin Laden. Jason Burke looks at what lies behind the name and the myth.

Drawing on a decade of reporting in the Middle East, during which time he gained access to radical Islam, and secret documents as well as interviews with intelligence officers, mujahedeen commanders and Bin Laden's associates, he reveals a different side to Al Qaeda and sets out to demolish the myths that underpin the "war on terror".

The author shows how eradicating a single figure or group will do nothing to combat terrorism, portrayed by the writer as a phenomenon of Islamic militancy. This train of thought presents a different angle which might help address some of the issues surrounding security today. He looks at Al Qaeda in three dimensions: the Al Qaeda hardcore, centred on Bin Laden, the Al Qaeda linked network, and the other dimension that he describes as Al Qaedism.