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Simon Conway's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Simon Conway recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Simon Conway's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1
The counterterrorism expert John Robb reveals how the same technology that has enabled globalization also allows terrorists and criminals to join forces against larger adversaries with relative ease and to carry out small, inexpensive actions--like sabotaging an oil pipeline--that generate a huge return. He shows how combating the shutdown of the world's oil, high-tech, and financial markets could cost us the thing we've come to value the most--worldwide economic and cultural integration--and what we must do now to safeguard against this new method of warfare. less
Recommended by Simon Conway, and 1 others.

Simon ConwayThis is a book that everybody should read, particularly anybody who cares about national security. I have been to various meetings at the Foreign Office and other places and every time I meet anyone who has anything to do with counter-terrorism I say, you must read this book. And, in the manner of civil servants, they usually nod and it is very clear they have no intention of reading it, which... (Source)

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2
The true story of the events that inspired the feature film Blood Diamonds starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly, in theaters Dec 8th. Blood Diamonds is the gripping tale of how the diamond smuggling works, how the rebel war has effectively destroyed Sierra Leone and its people, and how the policies of the diamond industry less
Recommended by Simon Conway, and 1 others.

Simon ConwayThis is a tale about diamond smuggling and what a curse diamonds have been to Sierra Leone and how diamond smuggling funded one of the most brutal rebel movements in modern history – the Revolutionary United Front. (Source)

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3
Cut adrift after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan has become a political no-man's-land.Historically an artifical "buffer state, " Afghanistan has in recent years become the geopolitical playground of a variety of competitng interests - the Americans, the Saudis, Russians and Pakistanis, let alone drug barons, arms dealers and oil interests.Afghanistan's unstable and problematic history is now further complicated by the emergence of the Taliban - one of the most conservative and least understood Islamic movements in the world.The Taliban continues to grab the headlines, most... more
Recommended by Simon Conway, and 1 others.

Simon ConwayI chose this book because I think it provides a fascinating insight into the real nuances of political, religious and ethnic strife in Afghanistan through the period of the Afghan Civil War and the rise of the Taliban. There are actually two editions of it. It was revised in 2003 but the original edition was written before the 9/11 attacks. (Source)

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4
A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States.

The Looming Tower achieves an unprecedented level of intimacy and insight by telling the story through the interweaving lives of four men: the two...
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Bryan CallenI love [this author]. (Source)

Mary HabeckThis is a fantastic account of the origins of al Qaeda, the individuals who laid the foundations of the organisation and why they carried out 9/11. (Source)

Peter TaylorIf anybody wishes to understand what Al-Qaeda is, where it came from and what it is trying to do, I think that this is the key book to read. (Source)

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5
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the deregulation of international financial markets in 1989, governments and entrepreneurs alike became intoxicated by dreams of newly opened markets. But no one could have foreseen that the greatest success story to arise from these events would be the worldwide rise of organized crime. Today, it is estimated that illegal trade accounts for one-fifth of the global GDP.

In this fearless and wholly authoritative investigation of the seemingly insatiable demand for illegal wares, veteran reporter Misha Glenny...
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Recommended by Vinod Khosla, Simon Conway, and 2 others.

Vinod KhoslaFun though older book. (Source)

Simon ConwayYes, with my next two choices I am trying to bring together some of the issues that have been rattling around in my head. This book really leads you into the world of international crime, gang operations, sex slavery and money laundering, etc. (Source)

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