The Last Refuge
Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia
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Narrated by:
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Michael Butler Murray
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By:
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Gregory Johnsen
About this listen
A gripping account of how al-Qaeda in Yemen rebounded from an initial defeat to once again threaten the United States.
Far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and al-Qaeda are fighting a clandestine war of drones and suicide bombers in an unforgiving corner of Arabia. The Last Refuge charts the rise, fall, and resurrection of al-Qaeda in Yemen over the last 30 years, detailing how a group that the United States once defeated has now become one of the world’s most dangerous threats. An expert on Yemen who has spent years on the ground there, Gregory D. Johnsen uses al-Qaeda’s Arabic battle notes to reconstruct their world as they take aim at the United States and its allies. Johnsen brings listeners inside al-Qaeda’s training camps and safe houses as the terrorists plot poison attacks and debate how to bring down an airliner on Christmas Day. The Last Refuge is an eye-opening look at the successes and failures of fighting a new type of war in one of the most turbulent countries in the world.
©2013 Gregory D. Johnsen (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
The Talmud says: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel’s DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small....
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Eye Opening
- By Ari Safari on 02-09-18
By: Ronen Bergman
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The Cell
- Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It
- By: John Miller, Michael Stone, Chris Mitchell
- Narrated by: John Miller
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
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The Cell provides the first complete treatment to piece together what led to the events of 9/11, ultimately delivering the disturbing answer to the question: why, with all the information the intelligence community had, was no one able to stop the September 11 attacks? It also includes a first-person account of John Miller's face-to-face meeting with Osama bin Laden.
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What led up to 9/11?
- By Richard on 12-31-03
By: John Miller, and others
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No Good Men Among the Living
- America, the Taliban, and the War Through Afghan Eyes
- By: Anand Gopal
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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In a breathtaking chronicle, acclaimed journalist Anand Gopal traces in vivid detail the lives of three Afghans caught in America's war on terror. He follows a Taliban commander who rises from scrawny teenager to leading insurgent, a U.S.-backed warlord who uses the American military to gain personal wealth and power, and a village housewife trapped between the two sides who discovers the devastating cost of neutrality.
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Outstanding book, remarkable narrator
- By captainramius on 04-05-19
By: Anand Gopal
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Manhunt
- The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - from 9-11 to Abbottabad
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of the New York Times best-selling Holy War, Inc., this is the definitive account of the decade-long manhunt for the world’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda expert and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen paints a multidimensional picture of the hunt for bin Laden over the past decade, including the operation that killed him.
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DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!
- By Betty on 05-04-12
By: Peter L. Bergen
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Killing a King
- The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel
- By: Dan Ephron
- Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin remains the single most consequential event in Israel's recent history and one that fundamentally altered the trajectory for both Israel and the Palestinians. Killing a King relates the parallel stories of Rabin and his stalker, Yigal Amir, over the two years leading up to the assassination, as one of them planned political deals he hoped would lead to peace - and the other plotted murder.
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Tragic history well presented.
- By Mmday on 02-28-16
By: Dan Ephron
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Holy War, Inc.
- Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Peter L. Bergen
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
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The September 11 assault on the World Trade Center was the most sophisticated and horrifying in a series of operations masterminded by Osama bin Laden and his Jihad group - an organization that CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen calls Holy War, Inc. One of only a handful of journalists to have interviewed the world's most wanted man face to face, Bergen explains the Jihadist network that operates globally and in secrecy.
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sorry about spelling
- By Sergei on 10-18-07
By: Peter L. Bergen
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Jawbreaker
- The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
- By: Gary Berntsen, Ralph Pezzullo
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In Jawbreaker, Gary Berntsen, until recently one of the CIA's most decorated officers, comes out from under cover for the first time to describe his no-holds-barred pursuit of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
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A great read (err - Listen)
- By Joshua on 07-01-08
By: Gary Berntsen, and others
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Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
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The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
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A Rope and a Prayer
- The Story of a Kidnapping
- By: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Narrated by: David Rohde, Kristen Mulvihill
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The compelling and insightful account of a New York Times reporter's abduction by the Taliban and his wife's struggle to free him. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. For the next seven months, they lived in an alternate reality, ruled by jihadists, in which paranoia, conspiracy theories, and shifting alliances abounded.
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A History Lesson
- By Ed on 12-31-10
By: David Rohde, and others
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Warriors of God
- Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel
- By: Nicholas Blanford
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 19 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Hezbollah is the most powerful Islamist group operating in the Middle East today, and no other Western journalist has penetrated as deeply inside this secretive organization as Nicholas Blanford. Now Blanford has written the first comprehensive inside account of Hezbollah and its enduring struggle against Israel.
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Collection of anecdotes
- By Kindle Customer on 05-15-17
What listeners say about The Last Refuge
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-10-15
One of the better books I have read on terrorism.
This book starts slow, with a somewhat laughable reliance on generalizations and cliches in its intro. But once it gets into the actual recreation of events, it is fascinating. As best I can tell, its big-scale facts track to reality, and provide some critical background to understanding the rise of ISIS/ISIL and the general failure (or at least incomplete success) of the US in its "war on terror." I very much appreciated the author's reliance on non-Western viewpoints, but would have appreciated a direct questioning of Saudi or Yemeni anti-terrorism sources as to what the big picture is. This book was published before ISIS/ISIL hit the news in the West, so I feel like I now want a clear sense of the connection (or lack thereof) between AQAP and ISIS/ISIL.
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- Ray
- 04-04-15
Great book too many charachters to keep up with.
What made the experience of listening to The Last Refuge the most enjoyable?
Very Informative and eye opening-Tied up a lot of loose ends and explained a lot of unknowns. I thought it was very well written and assembled.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
President Saleh's return from Saudi Arabia for medical treatment was actually an escape.
What three words best describe Michael Butler Murray’s voice?
Unfamiliar with correct pronunciation of names and places.
If you could give The Last Refuge a new subtitle, what would it be?
Understanding AQAP and the Yemeni government.
Any additional comments?
I would have liked to have seen an afterword or post-script, I would have liked to have heard G.Johnsens own opinion on how to solve or address the AQAP issue-or perhaps what we were doing wrong or right. This was an essential piece missing.
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- Rhea
- 07-15-13
bin laden.
Would you consider the audio edition of The Last Refuge to be better than the print version?
This book is great. The only thing that I really didn't like was the extreme over statement of Bin ladens role in the soviet war in Afganistan. He survived one attack on his moutain hide out and left for Pakistan as fast as he could. And remained in pakistan for the rest of the so called "jihad." His role in the jihad was a man with money to give and pretty much nothing else.
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1 person found this helpful
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- George
- 12-03-15
expected more history of Yemen
largely focused on the evolution of al quaeda which many other books do. I would have preferred more background on Yemen that demonstrates why here and talked more about the Saudis
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- Matthew
- 02-11-21
Great story.
The author did an awesome job accomplishing the research and intelligence gathering that was necessary to tell this story.
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- Dorothy
- 07-22-24
The details
Thorough description of the history and Politics in Yemen with vivid details about every terrorist attack inside and outside the country
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