The Jihadis of Yemen

In the latest issue of New York Review of Books, Robert Worth reviews The Last Refuge along with Edmund Hull’s book, High Value Target.

Worth opens like this:

Yemen is an ancient country on the southern heel of the Arabian peninsula, the crucible of many of the peoples and customs we now think of as Arab. But to most Westerners, it is little more than a code word for bizarre terror plots. The branch of al-Qaeda based there has made three efforts to plant bombs on US-bound jetliners, starting with the “crotch bomber” in late 2009, who tried to detonate himself as his flight approached Detroit and succeeded only in burning his own genitals. The plots have grown steadily more sophisticated, and fears of another terror strike originating in Yemen are said to keep President Obama up at night.

Adding: “The Last Refuge is an authoritative and deftly written account of al-Qaeda’s Yemeni incarnation.”

Another review of the book, which was officially released yesterday, by Haley Sweetland Edwards is up at the Washington Monthly.

Finally, a big and special thanks to all who came out to the Tattered Cover in Denver last night for the joint book talk with Mark Bowden.