How was it possible for one middle-aged Saudi millionaire to have threatened the worlds only superpower? How did he evade capture for so long? And how was he eventually found and killed? These are the questions at the centre of Jonathan Randals riveting account of Osama bin Ladens role in the rise of terrorism in the Middle East. Randal - a journalist whose experience of the Middle East spans the past forty years - makes clear how Osamas life epitomized the fatal collision between the twenty-first century West and the Islamic world. His investigations into the history of Al-Qaeda produce all kinds of surprises, such as the real sources of Osamas money, and the possibility that Osama offered the Saudis his band of radical Islamist fighters to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991. In this latest, fully-updated edition, Randal explores the background and ideologies of Al-Qaeda and its leader, and his eventual death at the hands of US Navy SEALs. With his long-maintained sources in the Middle East and his intimate understanding of the region, Randal gives us a clearer explanation than any we have had of why, where and how the worlds most feared terrorist operated.