This book has been sitting on my shelf for more than a year and recent events in Paris, Beirut and the downing of a Russian jetliner gave me the motivation to finally read it. In "The Looming Tower," Lawrence Wright tracks the origins of the radical Islamic movement which led to Osama Bin Laden's attack on 9-11. It's a magnificent work of journalism and helps put these terrible attacks in some sort of context. It is compelling, enlightening and wonderfully written. I cannot think of a more important book to read at this moment in history.