If you are looking for an awesome, attention grabbing nonfiction read for the holidays I have two.
500 Days by Kurt Eichenwald
The Black Banners by Ali Soufan
I just can't get enough of Bush Era War on Terror material. The Black Banners and 500 Days fits the bill. A lot of new material has been declassified.
The Black Banners by Ali Soufan
This book is a first hand account from the War on Terror. The USS Cole Investigation, 9/11, Guantanamo, all of it!
Ali Soufan was the FBI's premier interrogator. As an Arabic speaker Soufan was such a vital asset to the FBI his was involved in all the major terror investigations. He was one of the first in the entire US Government to bring Osama bin Laden onto the radar screen. What is most remarkable about this man is his absolute steadfast, rock solid ability to interrogate without relying on torture. This man is a true American Hero who defended the Constitution behind the interrogation room door! Lots of redacted material and some of it is hilarious, but in most cases it shows the heavy hand that the FBI and CIA had with the redacting pen which brings me to the next book.
500 Days focuses on the first 500 days after the 9/11 attacks. Most compelling to me though was the fact supported by evidence that the CIA, FBI, and State Dept. were jumping up and down, waving flags and shooting off flares trying to get Bush to act on all the intel pointing to an imminent attack. No conspiracy theories here just raw data and evidence. Bush was closing his eyes, sticking his fingers in his ears, and saying "Lalalalalala." What had his attention besides vacation time. The Bush Admin was totally focused on War with Iraq from day one.
The two books dovetail nicely with each other. They support each other through evidence, documentation, inferences and conclusions drawn. The most interesting part is that 500 days fills in a lot of the gaps left by the heavy redacting in the Black Banners.
Both books are an awesome read, but the two together are absolutely riveting.