"My Heart Became Attached": The Strange Journey of John Walker Lindh - Softcover

Kukis, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1574887599 ISBN 13: 9781574887594

Publisher: POTOMAC BOOKS, 2008

Synopsis

What would cause an otherwise intelligent, well-educated, and, by all accounts, privileged Californian to forgo an easy life in the United States to struggle for survival in a land of strife and mortal danger? With this question in mind, journalist Mark Kukis retraces the personal and spiritual evolution of the most reviled American traitor since Lee Harvey Oswald. "My Heart Became Attached provides a detailed biographical account of John Walker Lindh’s journey, beginning with his childhood in an affluent San Francisco suburb. Kukis then follows Lindh’s footsteps to Yemen, where he learned Arabic and radical Islam, and on through the wild hinterlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The journey culminates with the violent prison uprising at Mazar-i-Sharif.While conducting research, Kukis achieved unparalleled access to major players in Lindh’s life. In Pakistan, Kukis found the militants from the jihad group that trained with Lindh in a Pakistani camp. Kukis also conducted several rounds of interviews with Lindh’s friend who initially settled him in an Islamic boarding school, with Lindh’s instructor there, and with fellow pupils in the hardscrabble Pakistani village where he studied the Koran before journeying into Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Kukis interviewed Taliban soldiers who fought at Mazar-i-Sharif and General Dostum, warlord of the region. Ex-roommates, family members, and friends all contributed to Kukis’s research, resulting in the most thorough portrait available of the American Taliban.

About this title

About the Author:

Currently based in Washington, D.C., Mark Kukis left a job as a White House correspondent for United Press International shortly after September 11 to cover the war in Afghanistan as a freelance correspondent working closely with the online magazine SALON.COM. This is his first book.

Review:

"Mark Kukis expertly retraces John Walker Lindh’s unlikely odyssey from northern California to southern Afghanistan in this well-written account that illuminates the transformation Lindh underwent to become ‘the American Taliban’."—Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst and author of Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden (Peter Bergen)

"Mark Kukis has written a superb book about John Walker Lindh and his odyssey in search of spirituality through Islam. It is a brilliant answer to those who have puzzled over Lindh’s quest and fate."—Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers (Helen Thomas)

"Kukis captures Lindh’s journey to the dark side with insight and commendable detail. More importantly he helps us understand the motivations, forces, events, and personalities that shaped the man who shocked the world."—Robert Young Pelton, author of The World's Most Dangerous Places (Robert Young Pelton)

"Kukis vividly retraces Lindh’s journey, step by step, in the manner of an adventure book."—Jane Mayer, Washington Post (Jane Mayer Washington Post)

"An important contribution to understanding the current conflict against Islamic militants."—Terrorism and Political Violence (Terrorism and Political Violence)

"The story of the so-called American Taliban offers important lessons for many specialists. . . . An important contribution to understanding the current conflict against Islamic militants."—Terrorism and Political Violence (Terrorism and Political Violence)

About this edition

• Publisher: POTOMAC BOOKS
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1574887599
• ISBN 13: 9781574887594
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220