Ali H. Soufan's The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda (W.W. Norton) has won the ninth annual Ridenhour Book Prize, which "honors acts of truth-telling and outstanding works of social significance in publishing." The Black Banners is Soufan’s account of his time at the FBI and his investigations into al-Qaeda, starting with the beginnings of the group during the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by Islamic militants in 1979 and ending with the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.