The Last Refuge

Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the US and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers. It began in 2006, when twenty-three men escaped from a political prison in Yemen's capital. Later they were joined by a dozen men released from Guantanamo Bay. Now, they stand ready to hijack the Arab Spring.

Unrivalled Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen takes a look at the threat, and introduces his new book, The Last Refuge – the first account of al-Qaeda’s explosive growth in the country.

Gregory D. Johnsen

Photo copyright Jeff Taylor.

Gregory D. Johnsen is a scholar at Princeton University, a former Fulbright fellow, and a contributor to the Independent, Newsweek, and other publications. He has consulted to the UK Government and US Senate – and even Yemeni tribal shaykhs – and is interviewed freqently by the BBC, CNN, and many others. This is his first book.

Books by Gregory D. Johnsen

The Last Refuge

ISBN: 9781851689408
Binding: 
Paperback
Extent: 
368 pages
Illustrations: 
n/a
Subjects: 
Current Affairs,
History
Kindle Edition

The Last Refuge

Yemen, al-Qaeda, and the Battle for Arabia

Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the US and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers. It began in 2006, when twenty-three men escaped from a political prison in Yemen's capital. Later they were joined by a dozen men released from Guantanamo Bay. Now, they stand ready to hijack the Arab Spring.

Unrivalled Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen – a combustion of civil wars, Afghan refugees, and Islamic prophecy. He brings readers inside al-Qaeda’s training camps and safe houses as the terrorists plot poison attacks and debate how to bring down a plane on Christmas Day. Based on years of on-the-ground interviews and reviews of al-Qaeda battle notes, Johnsen delivers a gripping and incisive investigation of the true state of the Middle East.

"Gregory Johnsen has written the best new book on al Qaeda in 2012 and the best book on Yemen in years… A great read; Johnsen is a very good storyteller."
The Daily Beast

"Among the world’s foremost experts on al-Qaeda."
Mochael Isikoff, Newsweek

"Gregory Johnsen has written a breakthrough book on one of the most underreported and misunderstood stories of the post 9/11 era. Penned in gripping prose and with incredible attention to detail, The Last Refuge unfolds with the pace of an action novel, but this story is all too true. If we ignore the widening covert war in Yemen and fail to learn from its complicated history, we do so at our own peril."
Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

"Gregory Johnsen, an authority on Yemen and jihadist extremists, has delivered in The Last Refuge a wonderfully well written and deeply reported account of the only al-Qaeda affiliate that continues to pose a real threat to the West."
Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Osama bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad

"The Last Refuge offers a valuable look at Al-Qaeda's operational history in Yemen. Gregory Johnsen has done us all a service by explaining the country, the threats, and why we should pay attention."
Ali Soufan, author of The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda