History · Similar reads
Books like The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
The best books like The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 are The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, and Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright is about terrorism, intelligence failure, radicalization. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb
01
Richard Rhodes · History
Richard Rhodes spent years researching the scientific and political story behind the Manhattan Project, and the result is a work of narrative history that refuses to treat the bomb as either a triumph or a horror to be judged from a comfortable distance.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
02
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
Patrick Radden Keefe · History
Say Nothing opens with a scene that sets its register precisely: Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten, is dragged from her Belfast flat by a gang of masked strangers in December 1972 and never seen alive again.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
03
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari · History
Sapiens traces the full arc of human history from the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa roughly 70,000 years ago to the present.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary →
- Between the World and Me
04
Ta-Nehisi Coates · Memoir
Between the World and Me is a letter from Ta-Nehisi Coates to his teenage son, Samori, about what it means to live in a Black body in the United States.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - Brave New Work
05
Aaron Dignan · Business
Brave New Work is Aaron Dignan's diagnosis of why most organizations are dysfunctional and a practical guide to building something better.
Both dig into bureaucracy.
Read the summary → - The Autobiography of Malcolm X
06
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Malcolm X and Alex Haley · Memoir
The Autobiography of Malcolm X was assembled from a series of conversations between Malcolm X and the journalist Alex Haley, conducted over two years before Malcolm's assassination in February 1965.
Both dig into radicalization.
Read the summary → - The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
07
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Sam Harris · Religion & Spirituality
The End of Faith was written in the weeks following the September 11 attacks and published in 2004.
Both dig into terrorism.
Read the summary → - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
08
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams · Science fiction
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy begins with Earth being demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass.
Both dig into bureaucracy.
Read the summary → - 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
09
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Charles C. Mann · History
Charles Mann's 1491 sets out to correct a widespread misconception: that the Americas before Columbus were a mostly empty wilderness populated by small, isolated bands of hunter-gatherers living in gentle harmony with an untouched nature.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
10
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
Charles C. Mann · History
Where 1491 ends, 1493 begins.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - 1776
11
David McCullough · History
David McCullough's 1776, published in 2005, covers a single year of the American Revolution — from the winter siege of Boston through Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the surprise victory at Trenton.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary → - A Man on the Moon
12
Andrew Chaikin · History
A Man on the Moon is Andrew Chaikin's exhaustive narrative history of the Apollo program, from the first lunar orbit of Apollo 8 in 1968 through the final mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.
A kindred history read.
Read the summary →
Books like The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11: quick answers
What are the best books like The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11?
The best books like The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright are The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, such as terrorism, intelligence failure, radicalization.
What should I read after The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11?
A natural next read after The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 is The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. A kindred history read. Other strong choices are Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
What books are similar to The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright?
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 centers on terrorism, intelligence failure, radicalization. Books with a similar feel include The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan, The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
