Book Pages - The Osama Book

Remember when Duke U. was criticized for asking incoming frosh to read the Koran. I thought the reaction was rather overblown and even thought that it was even a good idea...I forgot that I was dealing with academia. A Dukie prof of religion, Bruce Lawrence, has edited and written a forward to a book of speeches by Osama bin Laden. Here is the good professor in his own words:

“No one has ever looked at all of his writings,” Lawrence said, adding that most of the resources about bin Laden are not written down, existing primarily as audio-cassettes or videos from al-Jazeera, an Arabic-language news network.

Lawrence said the new book focuses on understanding what makes bin Laden tick. “If you read him in his own words, he sounds like somebody who would be a very high-minded and welcome voice in global politics,” Lawrence said