Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, tells the story of how a handful of men formed an extremist organization that would scar the American landscape and shape the politics of a new century.  Wright’s work, the culmination of exhaustive research and more than 500 interviews, digs deep into the evolution of Al-Qaeda and offers intimate glimpses into the lives of its members before the attacks.  Wright illuminates power struggles in the American intelligence community and chronicles a group of dedicated intelligence officers’ efforts to keep Al-Qaeda from bringing tragedy to American soil.

Lawrence Wright has received numerous awards for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, the PEN USA Award for Research Nonfiction, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal.  He also was nominated for a National Book Award.  A graduate of Tulane University, he is a celebrated staff writer for The New Yorker.  He taught for two years at the American University in Cairo and is currently a fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law.

Recorded Monday, October 15, 2007 at Swissotel Chicago.