Black Banners: Inside The Hunt For Al Qaeda (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
This book is by far the most detailed history of al-Qaeda I have ever read. In that regard it delivers exactly what it promises.Originally I was going to give the book 5 stars, however, I had to take off 2 stars due to the excessive use of "blank" and "redacted" throughout the book. The author does state in the beginning of the book that the CIA and FBI vetting process required that certain information had to be partially blanked out or cited as redacted. At times the use of "blank" was very annoying and detracted so much from the book that I almost quit reading it on several occasions. It would have been far better to have edited the book based upcoming the vetting process instead of proceeding as is with "blank" everywhere. Lots of great information here unfortunately marred by a couple things, the first being the CIA redacts. Some sections were impossible to read,and led to some hilariously ridiculous lines like "[58 words redacted] It worked. [12 words redacted]." These aren't Soufan's fault of course, and hopefully, eventually, we'll have a complete version of The Black Banners. The other fault was the way Soufan told his story. For me personally, I didn't care for his recreating certain conversations or adding in events that were irrelevant. He also never criticizes himself, and often brings up how he was one of the few guys who knew what was going on, almost an FBI paragon or something. It honestly made me more suspicious than anything.Still, there's a lot in the book that's worth reading, and if the subject is one you're interested in, check it out.
What do You think about Black Banners: Inside The Hunt For Al Qaeda (2011)?
saw on Rachel Maddow. Author sounds like he knows what he is talking about.
—itgirl
Worth a read. Very good coverage. I've recommended it many times already.
—cherbear
Had insightful information I hadn't seen anywhere else.
—skittleszena
