Al Qaeda in its own words

This book is one of a number of useful works which translate statements by al Qaeda into English (this book was initially written, and is available in, French). There are four parts, each separately focusing on statements by the key ideologues of al Qaeda: Osama bin Laden, Abdallah Azzam, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Each part is also preceded by an informative essay discussing the protagonists, their beliefs and personal history. The statements are often excerpted, but provide good coverage of a range of their views.  This scholarly work, along with Raymond Ibrahim's, is an indispensible source for those wishing to study first-hand the statements of al Qaeda.