Perfect Soldiers

The first full-scale investigation into the men and motives behind the September 11 attacks The men behind the September 11 attacks have been caricatured in various ways by the media - as evil geniuses on one end of the scale, to deluded fanatics on the other. There is a tendency to assume that because these men were responsible for such a monstrous act, then they themselves must be monsters, born killers and fanatics. Terry McDermott's investigation reveals that in reality, most of the nineteen hijackers came from apolitical and only moderately religious backgrounds. He traces the historical and political events and circumstances that led to the evolution of these men into devout, pious Muslims. In fundamentalist Islam, religion and politics are inseparable; the young men who gathered in Hamburg saw themselves as soldiers of God.