Out of the Blue: A Narrative of September 11, 2001

By The New York Times and Richard Bernstein

Book Overview

A gripping and authoritative account of the September 11th attack, its historical roots, and its aftermath Few news stories in recent memory have commanded as much attention as the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, but no news organization rivaled The New York Times for its comprehensive, resourceful, in-depth, and thoughtful coverage. This effort may well emerge as the finest hour in the paper's distinguished 150-year history.In an unprecedented commitment, the Times assigned one of its most skilled reporters, Richard Bernstein, to turn the newspaper's brilliant and incisive reporting into a riveting narrative of September 11th. Following the lives of heroes, victims, and terrorists, Bernstein weaves a complex tale of a multitude of lives colliding in conflagration on that fateful morning. He takes us inside the Al Qaeda organization and the lives of the terrorists, from their indoctrination into radical Islam to the harrowing moments aboard the aircraft as they raced toward their terrible destiny. We meet cops and firefighters, and become intimate with some of the Trade Center workers who were lost on that day. We follow the lives of the rest of America-ordinary citizens and national leaders alike-in the hours and days after the attack.Finally, Bernstein chronicles the nation's astonishing response in the aftermath.No account of this singular moment in American history will be as sharp, readable, and authoritative as Out of the Blue .

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805072403
• ISBN13: 9780805072402
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Times Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

"Once it has happened,it has happened forever."

This is,without doubt,the best book I've come across about that dastardly act committed on 9/11.We have all watched many hours of televised newscasts and specials covering this event;but what this book does is put human faces on the people who were involved. The perpetrators of this act were filled with hatred and represent the many thousands of others like them who have bought into or have sympathy for an unbridled hatred called jihah.In contrast to them,are all the people who fell victim to this hatred and had their lives stolen from them, their families and friends.This book shows what it means to have good or evil in people's hearts.Unfortunately,the fight against terrorism will be long and difficult,but as history has shown time and time again,that good always prevails over evil. This book presents the facts and shows how the terrorists set out to attack America,the bastion for freedom and liberty for the world.They were encouraged by a lack of action,and further, took advantage of the freedoms enjoyed in the country and the great benefit of doubt given them by a country whose fundamental concept is of freedom and liberty of the individual,whoever he is.While they like to demand,and take advantage of this free society,would themselves deny it to others,and seek to destroy it while imposing their own sick oppression,tyranny and hatred on their own people and anyone else they can. While most of this book is very good,I take great exception to the attempt to compare 9/11 with Hiroshima,on page 247. "Perhaps the only comparable event in history was Hiroshima,but even Hiroshimahad had taken place in the context of a declared war.Hiroshima was a surprise attack but not a sneak attack.Sept 11 was both.Pearl Harbor,maybe,but no warped stretch of any demented imagination,can a comparison of 9/11 and Hiroshima be made!Any such thinking is deplorable. 20 years of terrorist attacks going unanswered forced America to embark on The War on Terror.There is only one outcome that can be an option;and that has to,and will be, complete victory.Anything else is unthinkable. And then again, on page 251,"What happened in Hiroshima and in the terrorism [in New York] is the same because there are many people who can't recover one tooth or one nail."Again,an unbelievable notion. A very important paragraph on page 250 deserves quoting. "Why were we hated so much? Hadn't we been on the Muslin side in Afghanistin? Didn't we help Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo? Wasn't it the case that millions of Muslins ,as president Bush pointed out in his speech before Congress,practiced their religion freely in the United States of America,to which they had come of their own free will? Clearly,we had something to learn about the unreasoning and unreasonable anti-American fury that existed in the Muslin world,where Osama bin Laden was being treated not as a villain but as a hero.There was a lesson there someplace,and it would be contemplated for a long time into the f

The story of 09/11/2001.

This is the story of the attack on our country on 9/11/01. The story goes all the way back to the late 1980's and originates in Afghanistan. Berstein does a good job of describing how bin Laden and his group of thugs got their grounding in the basics of terrorism. Not only bin Laden but some of the other members (Atta) are described in their early life.Along with the story of the terrorists, there are stories of some of the victims of 09/11/01. Bernstein does a good job in describing their lives, so we know what America lost in this attack. Unlike other journalists, Berstein gives reasons why the FBI/CIA did not pick up on the attack. This is a good summary of the attacks and the reasons they originated. The title sums up the surprise Americans felt when the attack came.

Out of the Ordinary

I work just a 10 minute walk from Ground Zero, and so, although I was not at work on 9/11/01, what I saw on the TV that entire day will affect me forever. This book deserves the highest rating because it goes far beyond the mere telling of what happened that infamous day. Out of the Blue informs the reader of the complete who, what, where, and why of the day's events, and literally takes the reader through that day as if the reader had been a survivor or a doomed passenger on one of the hijacked planes. One gets thoroughly familiar with the lives and mentality of all the heroes and villains. Contrary to other 9/11/01 books currently available, this is not a simple picture book, it is not just a regurgitation of what happened. It actually puts into perspective an event that just seems inexplicable. On the contrary to a prior review, this book does not rekindle the horror, pain, and hurt. It is not insensitive to the horror of that day. Instead, it makes it easier for the reader to overcome, and better deal with the horror and pain.

Journalistic Look at a Historical Event

Out of the Blue (The Story of September 11, 2001 from Jihad to Ground Zero) tries to tackle too much but gets some elements down very well. Richard Bernstein, using his and much of the staff of the New York Times' research over the past year, pieces together the development of recent terrorism and mixes in the personal histories of the hijackers as one theme, while also looking at the personal histories of the victims in the towers and on the planes on that fateful day and before. The terrorist background information is horrifically fascinating and laid out very clearly, which is of great benefit to the reader as the various themes can become confusing. The actual reporting on the events of the day is vivid, clear, and heart-rending. The book is a little weaker on giving the background of the victims as they become very similar in this telling as their similarities as Americans are emphasized. To paraphrase, good people are good in all the same ways but bad people are bad in all different ways. Some of the editing is a little loose at times and certain stock phrases creep into the writing. Still, this is a powerful journalistic account covering the entire sweep of events. Individual books on many of the separate elements would, ultimately, be more helpful but this book provides a sweep and momentum that will carry the reader through this time of history with more knowledge and deep grief.

gripping

I am trying to read all of the september 11 books. I am not exactly sure why; maybe just to be reminded not to become complacent about it. This one juxtaposes chapters describing the plot with chapters focused on the bios of individual victims, a technique that, I think, makes the tragedy more vivid than massing victims in to a big number. I learned a few new things about the plot, a lot of new things about some of the heroism of the victims and the minutes before the collapse. In contrast to the previous reviewer, I did not think the approach was clinical; if anything, I thought the writing was a big overwrought in places. Still, this is a minor complaint about a really well done book.