"Osama bin Laden: A Biography" offers a concise, fact-based portrait of a man whose rise from obscurity to notoriety coincides with some of the most traumatic events of the 21st century. It follows bin Laden's story from his life in Saudi society in the 1960s and 1970s to his religious conversion, his emergence as a jihadist leader, his horrifying terrorist attacks, and his near-mythic status in parts of the Muslim world today.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, "Osama bin Laden" finds the political and religious roots of a worldview that combines devout faith with a belief in violence...