Inside 9-11

Book excerpt: The award-winning news publication presents their groundbreaking 9/11 reporting: “A deeply disturbing and comprehensive overview” (John le Carré). Some of the finest writing and reporting on the events of September 11th was done by Der Spiegel, Germany’s magazine of record. With its main office in Hamburg, base of operations for terrorist ringleader Mohamed Atta and many of the others, Der Spiegel’s journalists were on the front lines of the earliest investigation into the identities of those who brought holy war to America. Spiegel was also at Ground Zero, gathering stories, interviewing survivors, and documenting the interconnections of horror and heroism. Inside 9-11 gives us some of these first-person accounts, taking us as close as we can get to what happened. The “why” of September 11th may remain beyond understanding. But here we learn who the terrorists were, and how they were able to take so many innocent lives by sacrificing their own. The profiles in this book render a chilling, alien mindset that has become part of our daily reality. Combining first-class investigative journalism and writing of great clarity, Inside 9-11 is a heartbreaking and gripping reconstruction of the events that changed us all.