Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another edition of The Avid Reader. Today our guest is Catherine Scott-Clark co-author with Adrian Levy of The Exiles: The Stunning Story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda In Flight.

Catherine is an award winning investigative journalist who worked as a staff writer and foreign correspondent for the Sunday Times in London then joined The Guardian as senior correspondent. She and Adrian have published The Amber Room: The Fate of the World’s Greatest Lost Treasure and The Stone of Heaven: Unearthing the Secret of Imperial Green Jade.

For ten years Osama Bin Laden avoided capture by all of America’s combined might. Hunter killer squads, drones, Special Forces and all of our intelligence services.

The Exile fills in the gaps of the decade long lacuna. How. Through the voices of those who witnessed the events themselves. Bin Laden’s four wives, his many children, his deputies and military attaches, his religious gurus, the CIA, Pakistan’s ISI and lot of other well-documented sources.

Stunning? Why? Because the stories we were told, as is oft the case wasn’t exactly the case. The fact for example that the Bush White House knew the whereabouts of bin Laden’s family and Al Qaeda’s military and religious leaders, but simply refused the opportunity to capture them. Yes I find it hard to believe as well.

But the book is so copiously researched and convincing that your opinions of Osama, Bush, Seal Team Six and the entire Pakistan Military will be changed dramatically upon a careful reading of this thoroughly researched and well presented work of investigative reporting.