Includes bibliographical references and index.

Bug in the elephant's ear -- Growing up with the bumblebee -- Afghanistan : stirred-up muslims and the end of the Cold War -- The making of a leader -- From hero to troublemaker -- Sudan, the islamic haven -- Algeria : sport et musique -- Floos -- "The behinder we get".

How was it possible for one middle-aged Saudi millionaire to have threatened the world's only superpower? How did he evade capture so long? And how was he eventually found and killed? These are the questions at the centre of Jonathan Randal's riveting account of Osama Bin Landen's 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 Osama's 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 Osama's money, and the possibility that Osama offered the Saudis his band of racial Islamist fighters to drive Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991. In the latest, fully-updated edition, Randal explores the background and ideologies of Al-Qaeda and its leader, and Osama's 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 world's most feared terrorist operated.