Book dossier

Manhunt

by Peter Bergen

Al Qaeda expert and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen paints a multi-dimensional picture of the hunt for bin Laden over the past decade, as well as the recent campaign that gradually tightened the noose around him. Other key elements of the book include: A careful account of Obama's decision-making process in the final weeks and days as the raid was planned, as well as what NSC cabinet members were advising him; the fascinating story of a group of mostly women analysts at the CIA in the HVT (high value target) section, who never gave up assembling the tiniest clues about OBL's whereabouts; the untold and action-packed history of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the SEALs, which accounts for the confidence Obama had in tasking them with the mission; and, an analysis of what the death of OBL means for al Qaeda, for the wider jihadist movement that looked to him for inspiration and strategic guidance, and for Obama's legacy. Just as Hugh Trevor-Roper's "The Last Days of Hitler" was the definitive account of the death of the Nazi dictator, so too is "Manhunt" the authoritative, immersive account of the operation that killed the man who organized the largest mass murder in American history.