Reports, Reviews, and inevitable, transparent self-promotion

This is the type of post I’m not a big fan of writing, and you probably aren’t a big fan of reading.  But, I’m told I’m supposed to do things like this, so, here it goes ….

I appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition on Sunday talking to Rachel Martin about The Last Refuge, Yemen, and US policy.  You can listen to our conversation here.

There have also been a couple more review of The Last Refuge posted.

The first was written by J.M Berger, who calls the book a “startlingly elegant debut.” You can read his review and critiques at his website, Intelwire, which begins:

The history of Al Qaeda has a prismatic quality, taking on a different color depending on the angle from which you examine it.

Gregory Johnsen’s TheLast Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America’s War in Arabia brings a shockingly fresh perspective to the story, examining the terrorist organization through its tortured relationship with Yemen. 

The second review, which was posted this morning, was written by my frequent sparring partner on drones and US policy, Clint Watts, who calls it “undoubtedly one of the best books on al Qaeda I’ve read.”

You can read his full review at Selected Wisdom here.

Finally, if you are in New York you are invited to come out to the Overseas Press Club tonight for the official book launch – it is free and details are here.

If you can’t make that event – this one with Teju Cole, who wrote a great book – looks promising and where I would be if I wasn’t at my own event.

DC-based readers I’ll be in Washington tomorrow for an event on Yemen and al-Qaeda at the Brookings Institution along with Daniel Byman and Ibrahim Sharqieh, both very smart guys.