<DIV><B>Defying foreign government orders and interviewing terrorists face to face, a young American tours hostile lands to learn about Middle Eastern youth? and uncovers a subculture that defies every stereotype</B>.<BR><BR> In 2004, Jared Cohen embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East in an effort to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence among Muslim youth. The result is <I>Children of Jihad</I>, a portrait of paradox that probes much deeper than any journalist or pundit ever could.<BR><BR> Chosen as one of <I>Kirkus Review</I>?s Best Books of 2007, Cohen?s account begins in Lebanon, where he interviews Hezbollah members at, of all places, a McDonald?s. In Iran, he defies government threats and sneaks into underground parties, where bootleg liquor, Western music, and the Internet are all easy to access. His risky itinerary also takes him to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, borderlands in Syria, the insurgency hotbed of Mosul, and other front-line locales. At each turn, he observes a culture at an uncanny crossroads. Gripping and daring, <I>Children of Jihad</I> shows us the future through the eyes of those who are shaping it.<BR><BR></DIV>