Through the second half of "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America" author Yossef Bodansky discusses Bin Laden's plans for attack, and his motivations for them. In comparison to the first half of the book, the second half is much more about the terrorism Bin Laden has caused and the events leading up to these acts. Again, like the first half of the book, Bodansky writes in chronological order of Bin Laden's life story, which makes it very easy to follow. One of the strategies that Bodansky uses to make complicated terrorism easy to understand, is he uses cause and effect to explain things. Since in the real world, we know that there is always multiple causation, Bodansky makes sure that he makes the reader aware that Bin Laden doesn't just do things for one reason, but rather a plethora of influences. I found the whole recruitment process interesting, as people volunteered their lives to become a terrorist. When Bodansky explains this process, he includes all of the reasons as to why someone would join Al-Qaeda. This makes the text very easy to understand, and that much more interesting. In the second half of the book, Bodansky's purpose is to try and tie Bin Laden's early life to his terrorism, and by doing so he tries to shed light on why this man did what he did. One way Bodansky is effective at achieving this purpose is by writing the book as a narrative. Instead of boring the reader with a list of facts about Bin Laden, Bodansky takes the reader through the events as though they are actually happening. This effect makes the reader more engaged in the book and provides for a much deeper understanding than just raw fact. As opposed to being a boring non-fiction book, Bodanksy's rhetorical devices engage the reader and make them feel like they are in the time period instead of reading a list of facts. Overall I thought the book was really interesting as it gave a different perspective on why Bin Laden did what he did.
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