The Looming Tower is a very well-written history of the people and background of the 9/11 attacks.

I thought this anecdote, that happened at the Kabul zoo in the aftermath of the Taliban's takeover of the city, was poignant:

One zealous, perhaps mad, Taliban jumped into a bear's cage and cut off his nose, reportedly because the animal's "beard" was not long enough. Another fighter, intoxicated by events and his own power, leaped into the lion’s den and cried out, “I am the lion now!” The lion killed him. Another Taliban soldier threw a grenade into the den, blinding the animal. These two, the noseless bear and the blind lion, together with two wolves, were the only animals that survived the Taliban rule.