I have read a couple of these and have a couple more to read. Gave the first three to my college age grandson to read. Should be must read material for them.
May I suggest a couple of very good fiction books by Nelson DeMille that really nails the mindset of the jihadists. "By the Waters of Babylon" was his first novel, written in the 1970s (1972 I think). When I read it after 9-11, I thought it could have been written in 2001 or '02. The Second one I read was "The Lion's Game"--a particularly gripping novel about catching a terrorist who makes it over here to wreak his destructiion and revenge. If you love to read and like mysteries, these are both excellent.
vaudine
If I can suggest a work of historical fiction then it would be Mika Waltari's "The Dark Angel", trans Naomi Walford, (New York: 1953), [Johannes Angelos in Finnish, Spanish translation available] [from Luis de Constantinopla ], English translation [?] mentioned by Marian Neudel.
The book is, as a matter of fact, the second novel on the subject by the same author. The first one is (originally) called "Mikael Hakim", and is more related to italian and muslim surroundings. "Johannes Angelos" can be read as a separate volume, but the author has an incredible ability to bring the era to life. I recommend them both.[from Tomi Vainionp] A couple of footnotes on Byzantine novels: The Waltari novel (one of the gratest historical novels) was translated into elegant English by Naomi Walford under the title "The Dark Angel" (New York 1953). It was written to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople. Waltari prepared for it by finding his inspiration through daily contemplation of his reproduction of Benozzo Gozzoli's fresco in Florence, which inludes portraits of John VIII and Patriarch Joseph. After Waltari's death his various drafts for this novel were discovered; they were published as the preliminary to the Dark Angel. This novel has been translated into Greek (but not into English thus far).It covers the Council of Florence and the crusade of Varna.