A Lebanese-born Middle East expert familiar to TV viewers,

Fawaz Gerges, is writing a book about fighters in the jihad, Muslim extremists opposed to the West, and it was

Tim Bent's first buy in his new spot at Harcourt. The book,

The Jihadists: Unholy Warriors, is based on interviews Gerges has done with a number of them throughout the Middle East and offers the reader a chance to understand their culture and motives. Bent bought the book for North American rights in a limited auction conducted by

Jennifer Lyons at Writers House, and it will probably be published late next year. Gerges, with an Oxford degree, teaches at Sarah Lawrence; is an adviser on Mideast affairs for Peter Jennings at ABC; and often appears as a talking head on CNN.