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Growing Up bin Laden
- Osama's Wife and Son Take Us Inside Their Secret World
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
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Publisher's summary
"I was not always the wife of Osama bin Laden. Once I was an innocent child dreaming little girl dreams."
Thus begins this powerful story by Najwa bin Laden, who married her cousin Osama bin Laden at the age of 15 to become his first wife and the mother to 11 of his children, and her son, Omar bin Laden, the fourth-born son of Osama bin Laden. Together, mother and son tell an extraordinarily powerful story of a man hated by so many yet both loved and feared by his family, with spine-tingling details about the life and times of the man they knew as a husband and father, including:
Since September 11, 2001, journalists have struggled to uncover carefully guarded information about Osama's private life. Until now, Osama bin Laden's family members have not cooperated with any writers or journalists. Now, with unprecedented access and insight, Jean Sasson, author of the best-selling Princess: A True Story Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia, takes us inside the secret world of Osama bin Laden.
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Dreams in a Time of War
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Of Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, Ngugi wa Thiongo was born in 1938 in the backlands of his country (Kiambu district) to a father whose four wives bore him two dozen or so children. Ngugi was the fifth child of the third wife. His father was a peasant farmer forced to become a squatter after the British Imperial Act of 1915. Before going off to school, he had what was then considered a bizarre and inexplicable thirst for learning....
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Zainab Salbi was 11-years-old when her father was chosen to serve as Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family often forced to spend weekends with Saddam where he watched their every move. As a palace insider, Zainab offers a singular glimpse of what it is like to come of age under a dictator and provides an intimate portrait of the man she was taught to call "uncle". She watched as Saddam pitted friends, spouses, and even children against each other to compete for his approval.
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An excellent history lesson
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This New York Times best-seller is the astonishing life story of award-winning humanitarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A deeply respected advocate for free speech and women's rights, Hirsi Ali also lives under armed protection because of her outspoken criticism of the Islamic faith in which she was raised.
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Abdel Latif, an old man from the Aleppo region, dies peacefully in a hospital bed in Damascus. His final wish, conveyed to his youngest son, Bolbol, is to be buried in the family plot in their ancestral village of Anabiya. Though Abdel was hardly an ideal father, and though Bolbol is estranged from his siblings, this conscientious son persuades his older brother Hussein and his sister Fatima to accompany him and the body to Anabiya, which is - after all - only a two-hour drive from Damascus. There's only one problem: Their country is a war zone.
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The bleakness of living in a war-torn country!
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An Exceptional Book
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Wild Swans
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Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular best seller which has sold more than 13 million copies and a critically acclaimed history of China; a tragic tale of nightmarish cruelty and an uplifting story of bravery and survival.
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Marthe Cohn was a young Jewish woman living just across the German border in France when Hitler rose to power. Her family sheltered Jews fleeing the Nazis, including Jewish children sent away by their terrified parents. But soon her homeland was also under Nazi rule. As the Nazi occupation escalated, Marthe's sister was arrested and sent to Auschwitz and the rest of her family was forced to flee to the south of France. Always a fighter, Marthe joined the French Army and became a member of the intelligence service of the French First Army.
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Is it really possible to love one's enemies? That's the question that sparked a fascinating and, at times, terrifying journey into the heart of the Middle East during the summer of 2008. It was a trip that began in Egypt, passed beneath the steel-and-glass high-rises of Saudi Arabia, then wound through the bullet-pocked alleyways of Beirut and dusty streets of Damascus, before ending at the cradle of the world's three major religions: Jerusalem.
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Syria as never read before
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Inside the Kingdom
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On September 11, 2001, Carmen bin Ladin heard the news that the Twin Towers had been struck. She instinctively knew that her brother-in-law was involved in these horrifying acts of terrorism, and her heart went out to America. She also knew that her life and the lives of her daughters would never be the same again.
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Scions of a once-great southern Chinese family that produced the tutor of the last emperor, Jun and Hong were each other’s best friends until, in their twenties, they were separated at the end of the Chinese Civil War. One became a model Communist, the other a model capitalist. On Taiwan, Jun married a Nationalist general, established a trading company, and emigrated to the United States. On the Communist mainland, Hong built her medical career under a cloud of suspicion about her family and survived two waves of “re-education” before she was acclaimed for her achievements.
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Wonderful Story of a Family’s Survival Through Political Change…
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What listeners say about Growing Up bin Laden
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Julie Schwalb
- 04-10-16
A must read
A fascinating account I could not stop listening. Brilliantly narrated the stories of Najwa and Omar are heartbreaking and insightful.
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- Curatina
- 04-14-10
Fascinating. I could not stop listening.
This book is not a literary work, but rather the memories of Najwa and Omar, two people who knew Osama Bin Laden not as a hero or a villain, but as a husband and father. He was a man they both loved in different ways, but also became a man they had to break with in order to survive.
Najwa's strength is the strength of love and determination to bend her will to her husband's and make the best of increasingly difficult circumstances for herself and her children. Omar's story is that of a young boy who grew up idolizing his hero father, but also being extremely disturbed by the hardships his father made him suffer -- sometimes carelessly, and sometimes deliberately. Although there are vivid recollections of attacks and violence as well as severe deprivation, what fascinates is Omar's inner journey from violence and retaliation toward peace and reconciliation. That he was able to survive the constant messages justifying hatred and killing and retain his love of all of god's creation -- both animal and human, is remarkable.
Please listen with an open heart and mind to the lives of these people. There were a few turning points that might have averted the 9/11 attacks that are probably unknown the common man in the west before this book. The book deeply conveys that no matter how misguided we may consider Osama Bin Laden, he is a man convinced of his own righteousness and the justice of his mission. His family as well as the rest of the world, bears the scars of that obsession.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Anne
- 03-27-12
Bin Laden's Son Speaks
If you could sum up Growing Up bin Laden in three words, what would they be?
It changes nothing
What did you like best about this story?
The yearning of Omar Bin Laden when he describes his childhood and the relationship with his father touched me. As an adult, the yearning for a father persists despite his ability to look at and judge his father with suprising objectivity.
What about Mel Foster’s performance did you like?
The performance was good overall but there were times when I felt as ifI was listening to italics and could not determine if they were the author's or the narrator's
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
no
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2 people found this helpful
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- Gingerfox
- 07-04-20
Very interesting book
It’s amazing how all the pieces of the puzzle fit. One missing piece would have stopped the next tragedy but that clearly didn’t happen. It’s a book that explains most of the information we already new. I have always believed Americans played a part in how this tragedy unfolded. Look at American Foreign policy during the decades before and after 911, they did play a part in all of this.
Najwa left Afghanistan on September 9th and that is a really important date in Afghanistan. This is the day al Qaeda carried out the attack on the Northern alliance leader Ahmad shah Massoud. He was practically the only resistance left in Afghanistan against the Taliban and a force that would have assisted the Americans. Did his assassination play a part in her decision to leave? He also warned the world that something big is happening in Afghanistan and people need to pay attention but was ignored.
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- SunniM-shopper
- 07-23-24
eye opening!
very insightful review of the most dangerous man in the world and his family
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- J
- 12-30-23
Wow
Truly crazy to hear the life of the Bin Laden family from the Bin Laden family. It blows my mind he put his family in harms way to continue his violence. It is sad to hear that many of his wives and children’s fates are unknown, and many of them so young. Awful human being, but humanizes his innocent family.
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- L VONURFF
- 09-16-24
interesting story
Sad that the huge family endured years of living basically like nomads & in poverty when he actually had & came from a wealthy family. And, This one son is still a peace keeper at heart. All his Wives & Children really had no clue until they were a bit older and then some even forced to become Martyrs. They were all his puppets & afraid to stand up for any kind of rights. Interesting story...
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- Pam Hare
- 02-14-12
One of the best books that I have listened to.
If you could sum up Growing Up bin Laden in three words, what would they be?
Captivating.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Najwa bin Laden. She is such an insightful, strong woman.
Which scene was your favorite?
Najwa bin Laden's joy with the birth of each of her children, and how she supported her children without
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I have not come to the 9-11 part yet, but it is refreshing to feel compassion for the family of such an evil man. I haven't cried yet. 45 minutes left to go though.
Any additional comments?
This is the 4th book of Jean Sassons that I have read or listen too. She is an excellent writer of others experiences.
The narration of this book is excellent.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joy
- 01-01-11
True grit and painful to hear
It must have been painful to write this book- it details one man's descent into extremist madness and the horrific toll it took on his wives and children. This book is a great read and gives some insight into a culture so different from our own; where husbands are king and wives and children are subjugated and raised according to the father's whims and beliefs. Thank God for America, I wouldn't last very long over there.....!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mom of colorful imaginations
- 05-25-19
Very amazing, stunning, and interesting
I'm sure every US citizen is curious about Osama's family. Very well written and portrayed.
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