Inside the Muslim Brotherhood

Depending who you talk to, Youssef Nada is either a respected mediator or a manipulative terrorist. With help from biographer Thompson, Nada offers both a limpid account of his long career and an honest picture of the Muslim Brotherhood; the book follows Nada's career as a successful international businessman and skilled mediator in conflicts across the Middle East. From an early age the Islamic altruism of the Brotherhood appealed to Nada's sense of justice and peace. He describes his early involvement with the organization, relating anti-British sentiment after World War II and the group's betrayal at the hands of revolutionary Gamel Abdul Nasser. For Nada, unjust imprisonment in a brutal Egyptian prison foreshadowed more dire accusations to come years later when President Bush falsely accused him of aiding Bin Laden. Nada is unsparing in his condemnation of injustice and hypocrisy, regardless of the players' stature. His lifelong emphasis on peace angered many uncompromising dictators, yet subjected groups continued to request Nada's wisdom. The book is uneven, primarily comprised of Nada's extensive quotations, with Thompson (The Hustlers) providing the connecting narrative. Nevertheless, it serves as a valuable overview of more than a half-century of shifting Middle Eastern politics and manufactured religious strife. (Nov.)