If you want to see more than the usual mainstream depictions of this event, I highly recommend this book. The photos had not been published prior to the book‘s release and most of them are focused on the recovery efforts at Ground Zero, rather than the timeline of the attacks themselves.

This book could have used a stronger writing and editing team. But if you can overlook a bit of flawed prose, you hear a unique point of view on the recovery effort. Marra worked the auto section of the Fresh Kills landfill and presents a sympathetic retelling of not only his own experiences there, but those of survivors and family members as well.

If you want to know what events and ideologies led to the 9/11 attacks, there‘s some great insight here. I was hoping I‘d have clearer thoughts on how to eradicate terrorism when I was done reading, but sadly I just have a better understanding of how complicated it is and how hard it will be to dismantle these political and religious beliefs.

I‘ve been to the 9/11 Museum, and this book presents an excellent selection of artifacts housed there. I was hoping the book would feature more of the items kept in the “no photos allowed” section of the museum, but I guess that does encourage more people to visit the site and experience it for themselves.

Moore desperately wanted this book to influence the 2004 election, so reading it in 2018 feels a bit bizarre. He was so sure that bringing up unfortunate Bush links to Saudi oil would change the nation‘s opinion. It‘s also a bit smug in that typical Moore style, but there‘s plenty of interesting stuff here if you don‘t mind rolling your eyes a bit and sifting through his obvious slant.

At least one story in this book appears to be fabricated, but the others make up a fascinating account of how anyone related to the airline industry reacted to the events of 9/11. This book also suggests that further terrorist action that day was stopped by how pilots, airports, the military, and the FAA responded.

I‘ve done a lot of reading on 9/11 and this remains the best of the lot. Farmer worked on the 9/11 Commission so he has special insight into how the investigation was conducted, what questions were avoided, and what was quietly left out of the official report. This is not a book about conspiracy theories, nor is it a celebration of America‘s response that day. It‘s a fair and honest retelling of what we did right and where we failed that day.