Call number
953.8 C
Collection
Publication
Penguin Press (2008), Edition: 1, 671 pages
Description
The Bin Ladens rose from poverty to privilege; they loyally served the Saudi royal family for generations--and then one of their number changed history on September 11, 2001. Journalist Steve Coll tells the story of the rise of the Bin Laden family and of the wildly diverse lifestyles of the generation to which Osama bin Laden belongs, and against whom he rebelled. Starting with the family's escape from famine at the beginning of the twentieth century, through its jet-set era in America after the 1970s oil boom, and finally to the family's attempts to recover from September 11, this book unearths extensive new material about the family and its relationship with the United States, and provides a richly revealing and emblematic narrative of our globally interconnected times.--From publisher description.… (more)
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member piefuchs
Of the many post 9/11 books that I have read, Steve Coll's Ghost Wars stood out for the combination of its readability, detailed research, and balanced tone. The moment I found out Coll had a new book on the Bin Laden's out, I rushed to find it cheap (thanks Costco...). The epic of the Bin Ladens
The Bin Laden's patriarch's view of both marriage and children seem by the standards of North America, well, very foreign. His many wives (who rapidly became ex-wives) had many sons (the most infamous son of which, Osama, was born in the same year as up to seven half siblings and in the same month as half brother) and many, literally, uncounted daughters. As the Bin Laden business empire (and of course their wealth) grew and thrived, the family became increasingly exposed to Western culture and the trapping of the nouveau riche. Some of the (half) brothers and sisters were sent to England, the US, and Lebanon (pre civil war) for education, where they embraced rock and roll, fast cars, and gawdy decor - or, were disgust by the same. The result was a culturally spilt family - the fission in which were most highlighted by who showed up when a half sibling married a European.
The infamous Osama was the only Bin Laden to result from a brief marriage between a very young Syrian and the elder Bin Laden. As familial status is derived from both the mother's status as wife, and birth order, he was, by the standards of his half brothers, poorly educated, and remained a bit player in the Bin Laden family businesses. The lives of the favoured brothers (along with their father they take up 2/3 of the book) who successively became the family's patriarch - the play boy Salem and the serious Bakr - are plots worthy of books in themselves. The portions on Salem in particular are almost unimaginable interludes into "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous".
Of the portions that deal with Osama himself, a large amount of effort is placed into finding the true extent of his wealth - which amounts to finding a paper trail of his inheritance. As the paper trail requires a basic understanding of the operation of Saudi business, it is more interesting than it appears. The best information appears to come from American divorce records... A second emphasis of the Osama part of the book deals with how the different factions of the family adapted to the increasing radicalism of Osama within a culture where even remote family ties that meet through a strong patriarch bind very tight.
A very worthy followup to the Pulitzer Price winning Ghost Wars.
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details a family (and its dynamics) that stretch beyond any those a fiction writer could imagine. Mohammed Bin Laden was a self made multi millionaire, who turned what is best described as a foreman position at Aramco into international construction firm - most famous for its work at Islamic holy sites and its close relationship with the Saudi royal family. The Bin Laden's patriarch's view of both marriage and children seem by the standards of North America, well, very foreign. His many wives (who rapidly became ex-wives) had many sons (the most infamous son of which, Osama, was born in the same year as up to seven half siblings and in the same month as half brother) and many, literally, uncounted daughters. As the Bin Laden business empire (and of course their wealth) grew and thrived, the family became increasingly exposed to Western culture and the trapping of the nouveau riche. Some of the (half) brothers and sisters were sent to England, the US, and Lebanon (pre civil war) for education, where they embraced rock and roll, fast cars, and gawdy decor - or, were disgust by the same. The result was a culturally spilt family - the fission in which were most highlighted by who showed up when a half sibling married a European.
The infamous Osama was the only Bin Laden to result from a brief marriage between a very young Syrian and the elder Bin Laden. As familial status is derived from both the mother's status as wife, and birth order, he was, by the standards of his half brothers, poorly educated, and remained a bit player in the Bin Laden family businesses. The lives of the favoured brothers (along with their father they take up 2/3 of the book) who successively became the family's patriarch - the play boy Salem and the serious Bakr - are plots worthy of books in themselves. The portions on Salem in particular are almost unimaginable interludes into "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous".
Of the portions that deal with Osama himself, a large amount of effort is placed into finding the true extent of his wealth - which amounts to finding a paper trail of his inheritance. As the paper trail requires a basic understanding of the operation of Saudi business, it is more interesting than it appears. The best information appears to come from American divorce records... A second emphasis of the Osama part of the book deals with how the different factions of the family adapted to the increasing radicalism of Osama within a culture where even remote family ties that meet through a strong patriarch bind very tight.
A very worthy followup to the Pulitzer Price winning Ghost Wars.
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LibraryThing member nbmars
The Bin Ladins are an intriguing family even aside from Osama, and Steve Coll has written a fascinating account of their history.
Mohammed Bin Laden, the Yemeni family patriarch, started his career as an illiterate bricklayer, whose hard work and dedication enabled him to rise quickly in the
The son who took over in the role of family patriarch was the wild and charismatic Salem, who spread money around like desert sands, and who died in a plane crash of his own in 1988. Reading about the exploits of Salem will help you answer the question, "Hmmm, I wonder what I would do if I had a gazillion dollars to spend on having fun?" Next up was Bakr, a more serious fellow who remains a major business player in Sauda Arabia.
Osama was the only son of a Syrian mother. Coll’s biography suggests to me a lot of commonalities with the young Mohammed Atta. Osama had big liquid brown eyes, was timid, distant from his father, and excessively tied to his mother (one pictures Atta still sitting on his mother’s lap even as an adult, just as Osama apparently was fond of sitting at his mother’s feet and stroking her). Both men seem to have developed a lot of anger, for which religious rigidity and anti-Semitism served as ready-made outlets. Sort of oddly, Osama’s stepfather had the name of Muhammad al-Attas.
What Osama had that Atta did not, however, was a rather tidy inheritance, family business salary, and royal family connections. And ready access to construction equipment. Osama’s half brothers were happy to help him with Caterpillar tractors, “charitable” funds, and even weaponry, at least until 9/11. The family tried to distance themselves from Osama after that, many expressing fear that their own substantial fortunes might be put in jeopardy.
The Saudi royals supported the Bin Laden’s efforts to function independently of whatever Osama did, and it probably also didn’t hurt that the Bin Laden family has other royal friends in high places, including Prince Charles in Britain and the Bush Dynasty in the U.S. Current profits from oil have enabled Saudi Arabia to go on a construction binge, and the Bin Ladens are reaping in the benefits. The company now has some 35,000 employees and oversees a vast construction empire. It is unclear what the future will bring for Osama, but he remains at large at Coll’s writing.
Mohammed Bin Laden, the Yemeni family patriarch, started his career as an illiterate bricklayer, whose hard work and dedication enabled him to rise quickly in the
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construction field. At age 22, he was able to start his own business with his brother (whom he later bought out). Once he got in with the Saudi royal family (beginning with a princely palace here and there), there was no stopping him. Mohammed figured out a way around the 4-wives limitation by serial divorces and marriages, ending up with over twenty wives during his lifetime and fifty-four children. He built roads and condos, did major renovations at Mecca, got exclusive rights to all mosque construction, and even did work in Jerusalem. By the time he died in a plane crash in 1967, his company was worth some $150 million. In his estate, the sons each got double the shares of the wives and female children, but they all did just dandy. The son who took over in the role of family patriarch was the wild and charismatic Salem, who spread money around like desert sands, and who died in a plane crash of his own in 1988. Reading about the exploits of Salem will help you answer the question, "Hmmm, I wonder what I would do if I had a gazillion dollars to spend on having fun?" Next up was Bakr, a more serious fellow who remains a major business player in Sauda Arabia.
Osama was the only son of a Syrian mother. Coll’s biography suggests to me a lot of commonalities with the young Mohammed Atta. Osama had big liquid brown eyes, was timid, distant from his father, and excessively tied to his mother (one pictures Atta still sitting on his mother’s lap even as an adult, just as Osama apparently was fond of sitting at his mother’s feet and stroking her). Both men seem to have developed a lot of anger, for which religious rigidity and anti-Semitism served as ready-made outlets. Sort of oddly, Osama’s stepfather had the name of Muhammad al-Attas.
What Osama had that Atta did not, however, was a rather tidy inheritance, family business salary, and royal family connections. And ready access to construction equipment. Osama’s half brothers were happy to help him with Caterpillar tractors, “charitable” funds, and even weaponry, at least until 9/11. The family tried to distance themselves from Osama after that, many expressing fear that their own substantial fortunes might be put in jeopardy.
The Saudi royals supported the Bin Laden’s efforts to function independently of whatever Osama did, and it probably also didn’t hurt that the Bin Laden family has other royal friends in high places, including Prince Charles in Britain and the Bush Dynasty in the U.S. Current profits from oil have enabled Saudi Arabia to go on a construction binge, and the Bin Ladens are reaping in the benefits. The company now has some 35,000 employees and oversees a vast construction empire. It is unclear what the future will bring for Osama, but he remains at large at Coll’s writing.
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LibraryThing member Periodista
As you would expect from the author of Ghost Wars. Oh, probably not quite as definitive as that book. Do you really need to know all these bin Ladens? Surely not in this copious detail.
But if you want a feel for how Saudi Arabia developed in the 20th century, the story of Osama bin Laden's father,
Then there's the story of the next generation's leader, Salem, Osama's older brother. He was from the siblings educated in England and the US from a young age--Western girlfriends, Western male friends, mind-boggling extravagance, industrial strength shopper, airplane collector (he died flying an ultra light in Texas), prankster, bad singer, a strange kind of investor (nothing in stocks ..)
But if you want a feel for how Saudi Arabia developed in the 20th century, the story of Osama bin Laden's father,
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who walked out of Yemen as a boy, Riyadh in the 1920's, how from a laborer he worked his way up, the effect of war on the economy, etc. ...well, a book like this is the next best thing to a novel.Then there's the story of the next generation's leader, Salem, Osama's older brother. He was from the siblings educated in England and the US from a young age--Western girlfriends, Western male friends, mind-boggling extravagance, industrial strength shopper, airplane collector (he died flying an ultra light in Texas), prankster, bad singer, a strange kind of investor (nothing in stocks ..)
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LibraryThing member SiSarah
Steve Coll's books are reliably well-written, well-researched, and both deep and broad. Subject matter that could be incomprehensible, with so many unfamiliar dates, locations, names and events, is made clear through his engaging language and his ability to focus the reader in on a narrative.
I was
It is easy to stereotype individuals from unfamiliar cultures, to lump all Saudi Arabians or Yemenis or Afghanis into one large box, but the diversity of the bin Laden family shows that the confluence of religion, technology, politics and geography can result in stunningly different personalities, attitudes and beliefs even in the members of a single family.
Valuable reading and a fascinating look into another culture. I've only just finished it (I personally tend to read quickly and then digest at leisure), and believe it will be worth going back to this book repeatedly for deeper understanding.
I was
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expecting a book a bit more upon the lines of Ghost Wars, a description of history and policy leading towards September 11th, and instead I found something more like a family biography. It was a surprise, but a welcome one. If I'd ever been asked if I thought I should know about Mohamed, Abdullah (and Abdullah and Abdullah), Salem, Ghalib, Khaled, Yeslam, Bakr and Randa bin Laden, I would have said no. Yet learning about all these individuals has been fascinating.It is easy to stereotype individuals from unfamiliar cultures, to lump all Saudi Arabians or Yemenis or Afghanis into one large box, but the diversity of the bin Laden family shows that the confluence of religion, technology, politics and geography can result in stunningly different personalities, attitudes and beliefs even in the members of a single family.
Valuable reading and a fascinating look into another culture. I've only just finished it (I personally tend to read quickly and then digest at leisure), and believe it will be worth going back to this book repeatedly for deeper understanding.
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LibraryThing member Bridget770
A fascinating book which gives background about the vast Bin Laden family. It gives incredible detail about the family structure and dynamics, in particular the difficulty managing the Western influence on a Muslim family. What it does not do is tell you what made Osama the man he is now. The focus
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is clearly the Bin Laden family, it addresses Osama in that context. Excellent non-fiction read. Show Less
LibraryThing member carterchristian1
A must read to place Osama in context. Interesting photographs of the clan, showing relationships among the extended family members.
LibraryThing member cbjorke
After the September 11 attacks of 2001 there were rumors circulating about members of the Bin Laden clan whisked out of the country by the CIA and of secret connections between the Bin Ladens and the Bush clan. Conspiracy theorists have spun elaborate tales based on these stories. So who are these
Osama is one of 54 sons and daughters of Mohamed Bin Laden, a building contractor from Yemen who built a business empire by serving the needs and the whims of the Al Saud dynasty for whom Saudi Arabia is named. Under his leadership and that of his oldest sons, Salem and Bakr the Bin Laden companies have grown into an international multi-million dollar operation, building highways, renovating the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the major mosques in Mecca and Medina, creating the Saudi telephone system and investing in satellite communications, fitting out luxury private aircraft in Texas and buying commercial real estate and condominium developments in Florida.
Returning from Afghanistan in the early 1990s, Osama Bin Laden became disenchanted with the society he found in his native Saudi Arabia. He soon broke with the Al Saud and king Fahd and exiled himself to Yemen and then Sudan. His family formally removed him from the Bin Laden business at this time. Theoretically he has been cut off from the Bin Laden family fortune since this time, before the embassy bombings, before the USS Cole and certainly before 911. By breaking with the Al Saud Osama broke with the golden goose from which the Bin Laden family fortune was laid.
There is some question whether Osama has received funds from any family members however. Al-Qaeda has relied on donations from within the Arab world for it's operating funds and Bin Laden has been a major factor in getting those donations.
Those mysterious Bin Ladens who were spirited out of the country? A half brother living in Beverly Hills, another attending Harvard Business School, many nephews and a few nieces attending various colleges throughout the country. They were taken to Paris on a flight chartered by the family, with the cooperation of, and after being questioned by the FBI. No connection to Al-Qaeda was found for any of them.
The Bin Laden business empire continues to prosper, building airports, palaces condominiums and resorts in the middle east. Osama continues to live in exile, somewhere in the Afghanistan/Pakistan borderlands.
I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book!
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Bin Ladens and were they really here and why? Steve Coll reveals the true story of the Bin Laden family as much as it can be known.Osama is one of 54 sons and daughters of Mohamed Bin Laden, a building contractor from Yemen who built a business empire by serving the needs and the whims of the Al Saud dynasty for whom Saudi Arabia is named. Under his leadership and that of his oldest sons, Salem and Bakr the Bin Laden companies have grown into an international multi-million dollar operation, building highways, renovating the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the major mosques in Mecca and Medina, creating the Saudi telephone system and investing in satellite communications, fitting out luxury private aircraft in Texas and buying commercial real estate and condominium developments in Florida.
Returning from Afghanistan in the early 1990s, Osama Bin Laden became disenchanted with the society he found in his native Saudi Arabia. He soon broke with the Al Saud and king Fahd and exiled himself to Yemen and then Sudan. His family formally removed him from the Bin Laden business at this time. Theoretically he has been cut off from the Bin Laden family fortune since this time, before the embassy bombings, before the USS Cole and certainly before 911. By breaking with the Al Saud Osama broke with the golden goose from which the Bin Laden family fortune was laid.
There is some question whether Osama has received funds from any family members however. Al-Qaeda has relied on donations from within the Arab world for it's operating funds and Bin Laden has been a major factor in getting those donations.
Those mysterious Bin Ladens who were spirited out of the country? A half brother living in Beverly Hills, another attending Harvard Business School, many nephews and a few nieces attending various colleges throughout the country. They were taken to Paris on a flight chartered by the family, with the cooperation of, and after being questioned by the FBI. No connection to Al-Qaeda was found for any of them.
The Bin Laden business empire continues to prosper, building airports, palaces condominiums and resorts in the middle east. Osama continues to live in exile, somewhere in the Afghanistan/Pakistan borderlands.
I'll Never Forget The Day I Read A Book!
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LibraryThing member MarthaJeanne
Obviously written with Osama in mind, but it is the other parts of the story that fascinated me. Note: published in 2008 before the death of Osama Bin Laden.
Awards
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist — 2009)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — 2008)
National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist — Biography — 2008)
PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction (Winner — 2009)
Notable Books List (Nonfiction — 2009)
Pages
671
ISBN
1594201641 / 9781594201646
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