Prelude To Terror

Three years after the September 11 attacks, volumes that greatly deepen our understanding of the earth-shaking events are starting to appear. Two of these, Jonathan Randal's Osama and Steve Coll's Ghost Wars, were begun well before the attacks on America. Both are well worth the wait.

The two books complement each other. Randal, a retired foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, enriches the still-sketchy picture that most of us have of bin Laden and his family. For the first time, in Osama, we hear a lot about bin Laden's mother, who, according to some informants, was a concubine and had roots in the Syrian Alawite sect, whose mystical beliefs are considered heretical by many Muslims -- including the puritanical Saudis. But corralling such fascinating details isn't Randal's only forte. Better than any previous author, he explains the volatile regional milieu that enabled a minor son of a Saudi contracting potentate to become a hero to many Muslims.