Fotocopie, 319 pp., index. Peter Scholl-Latour was born in Bochum, Germany on March 9,1924. After taking a doctorate at the Sorbonne and his diploma at the Institut National des Sciences Politiques in Paris, he gained a diploma in Arab and Islamic studies at the Lebanese University of Beirut. He has worked since 1950 as a journalist, spending many years as a correspondent in Africa and Indochina, as a studio manager in Paris, as television director of WDR and editor of Stern. Among his most successful books are the best-sellers Der Tod im Reisfeld [Death in the Rice-fields] (1980), Allah ist mit den Standhaften [Allah is with the Steadfast] (1983), Mord am grossen Fluss [Murder by the Great River] (1986), Mit Frankreich leben [Living with France] (1988), Der Wahn vom Himmlischen Frieden [The Delusion of Heavenly Peace] (1990), Das Schwert des Islam [The Sword of Islam] (1990), Den Gottlosen die Hölle [Hell to the Godless] (1991), Unter Kreuz und Knute (1992), Eine Welt in Auflösung (1993), Im Fadenkreuz der Mächte (1994), Schlaglichter der Weltpolitik [Highlights of International Politics] (1995), Das Schlachtfeld der Zukunft [The Battlefield of the Future] (1996), Lügen im Heiligen Land [Lies in the Holy Land] (1998), Allahs Schatten über Atatürk [Allah’s Shadow Over Atatürk] (1999). His last book, Afrikanische Totenklage [African Dirge], was on the Spiegel bestseller list from 2001 to 2004. In 2006 he authored the TV documentary "Russia Surrounded: Putin's Empire faces NATO, China and Islam". Scholl-Latour has both the French and German nationalities, and describes himself as Gaullist.