Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11 (2019)

A minute by minute history of that one day--9/11--not from a political or historical perspective, but from the very personal perspective of the people who lived through or died that day. This is narrative nonfiction at its best. It is heart-breaking and compelling, but I can imagine it would be difficult or impossible to read if you or loved ones were in NYC or DC that day, as the book does nothing less than force you to relive these events.
5 stars ( )

This detailed account of September 11th tells stories about the victims, terrorists, and witnesses from September 10th through the 12th. Mitchell Zuckoff's meticulously researched retelling left me filled with anxiety as I remembered my own experience. This book doesn't cover the Afghanistan or Iraq wars, and it doesn't address any conspiracy theories.
If you're looking to learn the specifics of what happened on the actual day, this is the book for you. I would also suggest it to younger adults who were too young to experience it, or who - yikes - weren't born yet. Take a lot of breaks, drink a lot of water. ( )

An excellent, if often heart-wrenching read. ( )

An excellent account of that awful day. My one wish is that some more diagrams had been included of the layout of the Towers and the Pentagon.
This book is a reminder that all acts of terrorism and war are horrific...that the victims are real people and the affects reverberate for a generation or two. ( )

”With time, news becomes history. And history, it’s been said, is what happened to other people.”

This book…..

Where to start. I already knew all I thought I needed to know about this horrific day but no. Not even close. Mitchell Zuckoff managed to take events that we all are very well versed in and create a page turner par excellence. I mean, it read like a thriller where I had no idea what was going to happen next. He did it by filling the narrative with personal stories of both survivors and those who never stood a chance and yet I didn’t know until the last possible second which it would be. And he did it also by painstakingly developing a timeline that step by step revealed the horrors that we’re all familiar with. And yet, he made these events seem like they just happened and I hadn’t really heard about it before.

Of course I heard at the time about the ghastly communications problems between federal agencies that prevented basic (and I mean basic) information, crucially needed in the case of multiple attacks, from being shared even on a rudimentary level but to think that the NYPD and the NYFD couldn’t easily communicate vital information was fairly shocking. All the communication problems added to the incredible chaos that ruled the day especially in NYC but even at the Pentagon. Granted, these problems have been addressed and hopefully the chances of another day like 9/11 are less likely but just reading about it enraged me. I assumed too much about protections guaranteed by the government.

Please don’t think you know all you need to know about what happened that day. This brilliant book will change your mind and remind you that we must never forget. These brave, passionate, real people will stay with me for a long, long time. So worthy of at least five stars. ( )