A descriptive and thought provoking account of the 9-11 attrocities which we are extremely familiar with. The dreadful day is seared into our memories; and this book takes us crisply and thoroughly through the crimes themeselves, the terrorist plotters and their activities in the months leading up to 9-11. It also devotes considerable time (and for me this was the most interesting area) of the cross border intelligence efforts and indeed multiple mistakes which could have prevented these heinous crimes. Hindsight of course makes it tempting to judge the intelligence failures more harshly, and the reader needs to recall the more benign security environment we all lived in prior to 9-11. What we can all draw a modicum of comfort from is the response post 9-11, where the security techniques and organisations of the USA and its allies have improved beyond all recognition - as seen through the sheer number of plots disrupted or foiled.

The authors deal robustly with the conspiracy theorists, and call out (which is of no surprise) the role of some elements within Saudi Arabia and Pakistan of faciliatating the activities of the plotters and thereby the attack itself. The relationship in particular between the USA and Saudia Arabia is questioned and challenged; and leaves the reader in no doubt that this strange alliance will still remain pivotal (one way or other) to the long term interests of the Middle East and the USA. ( )