Without the personal wealth Osama bin Laden brought to his cause, it is unlikely he would have ever become the leader and face of al-Qaeda, according to “Osama bin Laden:  A Biography,” by Thomas Mockaitis, DePaul University professor of history and noted terrorism expert.

“His alleged charisma is suspect,” the book notes.  “Prior to his emergence on the world stage, no one seems to have described bin Laden as charismatic.”

The book, published by Greenwood Press, offers a concise and accessible history the life and philosophy of bin Laden and examines the historical context in which the man and his movement emerged.

Despite the scarcity of records on and photos of bin Laden and the reluctance of most members of his extended family to grant interviews, the book provides an overview of the life of bin Laden, who was born in 1957 into a life of wealth and privilege as a son of one of the most powerful families in Saudi Arabia.  He was likely the 17th or 18th son resulting from Mohammed bin Laden’s multiple marriages. Mohammed, who had built one of Saudi Arabia’s largest construction consortiums, was in his 50s when he married Osama’s mother, who was 14 at the time and came from a poor Syrian family.  Unlike most of his siblings, Osama bin Laden was largely educated in Saudi Arabia, during which time he started coming under the influence of the radical Muslim Brotherhood organization.

However, it wasn’t until the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan that Osama bin Laden converted his jihad ideologies into action and became part of the international force of young Muslim men who joined the 10-year battle to expel the Soviet forces.

In addition to bin Laden’s life, the book provides an overview of the on-going War on Terror and how events in the United States-backed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have sometimes played into the hands of the al-Qaeda movement including resultant terrorist attacks that have taken place around the world over the past decade.

Finally, the book reflects on the futile efforts to capture bin Laden and whether his elimination would have any meaningful effect on the Islamic terrorist movement. 

“The events of the past decade have been extraordinary in their historical scope, and it is my hope to give the reader an appreciation of how the U.S. arrived at this juncture and how we might logically and effectively deal with the challenge that faces the nation and the West,” said Mockaitis, an 18-year veteran of DePaul and frequent media commentator.