“The story of 9/11” is an effective retelling of the darkest day in American history
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
2019’s “Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11” is arguably one of the most difficult books that anyone will ever be able to read. An agonizing, real time narrative on the Sept. 11 attacks that is taken and framed by details from years of reporting (all of which is meticulously cited in a separate notes section), Zuckoff takes you (as best as he can) into the various locations impacted, including the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and even does his best in the book’s first half to piece together what happened on United Flight 93.
Zuckoff also makes sure that the focus remains largely on the victims and survivors of the tragedy, and not so much on the perpetrators. While it helps shine a light on those affected, some of whom do manage to get happy endings in the midst of all of the horror, the book does not shy away from the horrific scenes that unfolded that Tuesday morning.
Spilt into two sections (“Fall From The Sky” and “Fall To The Ground”), the book gives equal time to the events unfolding in the air and the events that happened once the planes made impact.) Readers are taken from the horror and heroics of the events on United Flight 93 before its crash into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to fiery situations inside the mangled section of the Pentagon, inside the Towers as flames shoot through the insides of the building, and on the ground as smoke and debris filled the Manhattan streets.
Even decades later, these stories still resonate, and this book is arguably the definitive tribute to everyone affected. “Fall and Rise” also contains a complete list of names of those that perished in the attacks on the Twin Towers, as well as a timeline of events of the attacks. It is arguably a book that everyone should read at least once in their lives.
“Fall and Rise” can be purchased in print, eBook or audiobook form.
