by Dan Rather
First published 2002
Dan Rather leads CBS News through September 11, 2001, beginning with what seemed like an ordinary morning. When witnesses report a plane hitting the World Trade Center's first tower, Rather and his news team scramble to provide accurate coverage as attacks spread from New York to Washington to Pennsylvania. The book compiles firsthand accounts from CBS correspondents, photographers, and journalists who captured each unfolding moment. French filmmaker Jules Naudet documents firefighters racing toward the crisis. Newsweek's Anna Quindlen examines the passengers on United Flight 175. The New Republic's David Grann observes families desperately seeking missing loved ones. Ed Bradley follows volunteers flooding into Manhattan to assist rescue efforts. The reporting reaches beyond the immediate attacks to explore how small New Jersey communities absorbed the shock and traces the story forward six months to the Towers of Light memorial. Rather introduces this complete journalistic record of a day that started routinely but ended in profound loss and national mourning.
Genres: non-fiction, 21st-century, journalism, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: eyewitness-testimony, firsthand-accounts
Setting: New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
Period: September 11, 2001
143 pages · Hardcover · Diane Pub Co
Content warnings: death