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The 11th Day (2011)

by Anthony Summers(Favorite Author)

4.05 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0385612818 (ISBN13: 9780385612814)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Ballantine Books (NYC)

review 1: The book gives a lot to take in. There is a lot of information, and ideas on what the information could mean. Absolutely not a quick read, I found myself reading some parts to be sure I had actually understood correctly. For me, I also found myself frustrated as I read, not at the book but with our government. The book points out numerous errors and attempts to conceal information. I had never bought into the idea that we were (as a nation) totally innocent victims of radicals that hate us for our freedoms. I had been aware that Osama, and other terrorists, had been used by our country against the Soviets. This book gave me a better understanding of our government involvement and the reasons why were so strongly disliked in the Middle East. The only reason I didn't give an... moreother star was because (possibly partially because of cold medicine) I had a hard time keeping track of all the names & connections. At times I could have used a diagram to help me keep it all straight (but that could just be me!)
review 2: Hmm... There's a lot that's great about this book. It's meticulously researched, easy to follow despite the mind-boggling number of characters and unlike a lot of historical/political non-fiction you find on the shelves these days, utterly readable. But it's hardly the definitive account of 9/11, and the more I think about it, the more I can't hold the authors responsible for this. A definitive account would span volumes; there just isn't enough room in a book that can't be too heavy to hold to do justice to all the facets of this dark day and what came before, during and after it. In THE ELEVENTH DAY, I felt the events of 9/11 itself weren't given enough space, and I wouldn't have bothered even addressing the idiotic conspiracy theories (although you have to hand it to the authors for treating them so respectfully while still showing that the vast majority of them fall between plain wrong and completely ridiculous). But then perhaps, space issue aside, we all know too well what happened on that day. We are all already familiar. What we might not already know are the stories in this book about *why* 9/11 happened, and it's here the authors really outdid themselves. Compiling what must have been libraries of notes, records, reports, interview transcripts, etc. they piece together the systematic failures that led to this act of terrorism and present them in a clear and compelling narrative. What's sad is that by the time you reach "The End", you are convinced that, had everyone in the Bush administration, CIA, NSA, FBI, etc. done what they were supposed to do—and shared with each other the fact that they had done it—then none of this would have happened and 9/11 would be just another day in the calendar. On a side note, what is up with non-fiction footnotes lately? A good fifth of the pages in the paperback are taken up with notes. I appreciate that the authors were methodical and thorough, but couldn't these be accessible from a website somewhere? I've taken to checking where the footnotes begin now anytime I pick up a non-fiction book, so I won't be disappointed to discover that I actually *don't* have another hundred pages of the story to go. less

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