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Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11 | 
 enlarge | Author: Lynn Spencer
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 1165
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1416559256
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.931
EAN: 9781416559252
ASIN: 1416559256
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
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Product Description
On the azure blue morning of 9/11 the skies were pronounced "severe clear," in the parlance of airline pilots; a gorgeous day for flying. Nearly 5,000 flights were cruising the skies over America when FAA Operations Manager Ben Sliney arrived at the Command Center for his first day on that job. He could never have anticipated the historic drama that was about to unfold as Americans who found themselves on the front lines of a totally unprecedented attack on our homeland sprang into action to defend our country and save lives. In this gripping moment-to-moment narrative, based on groundbreaking reporting, Lynn Spencer brings the inspiring true drama of their unflinching and heroic response vividly to life for the first time, taking us right inside the airliner cockpits and control towers, the fighter jets and the military battle cabs. She makes vital corrections to the findings of the 9/11 Commission Report, and reveals many startling, utterly unknown elements of the story. As a commercial pilot herself, for whom the attacks hit terribly close to home, she knew that the true scope and nature of the response so brilliantly improvised that morning by those in the thick of the action -- with so little guidance from those at the highest levels -- had not at all been captured by the news coverage or the 9/11 Commission. To get to the truth, she went on a three-year quest, interviewing hundreds of key players, listening to untold hours of tapes and pouring through voluminous transcripts to re-create each heart-stopping moment as it happened through their eyes and in their words as the drama unfolded. From the shocking moment at 7:59 a.m. that American 11 fails to respond to a controller's call, until the last commercial flight has safely landed and military jets rule the skies, all Americans will find themselves deeply moved and amazed by the grace and fierce determination of these steely men and women as they draw on all of their exquisite training to grasp, through the fog of war, what is happening, put their lives on the line, and mount an astonishing response. This beautifully crafted and deeply affecting account of the full story of their courageous actions is a vital addition to the country's understanding of a day that has forever changed our nation.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
The view from the cockpit July 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
On the morning of 9-11, our little Cessna was one of the thousands of dots on the radar screens of America, so as I later watched the horrific events in New York and Washington DC unfold, I couldn't help but wonder what other pilots were feeling and thinking as they were told, without explanation, to get their plane on the ground NOW. This book gives an insight into the thoughts of some of those pilots -- some who were "escorted" down by fighter jets, some who could see the towers burning in the distance, some whose friends were in the cockpits of those doomed airplanes. It is rather frightening to read of the incompetence and lack of coordination among government agencies, but it is very encouraging to read of the quick thinking and heroism of ordinary people called upon to do something they could not possibly have trained for. In moments of crisis, it's impossible to predict who will fall to pieces and who will step up and be a hero. This was a fascinating book -- well researched and well written, and with lessons to be learned before we are called upon again to respond to the unthinkable.
fascinating reading July 20, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have a very high opinion of this book. I found it quite remarkable.
We all remember the events of 9/11, and how ghastly they were. What we did not know are the remarkable events that happened in airplanes all over the United States that awful day. There was a tense, frightening, and deeply touching drama taking place above the United States, as military pilots worked out a way to defend the cities, and commercial pilots found ways to cope with a situation that had not been fully explained to them.
I have nothing but respect for the American military; I also have profound respect for the commercial airline pilots---many of whom are ANG pilots as well----who fly the nation's passengers around the country.
This book increased my respect.
The American aviation workers, civilian and military, were able to move from utter chaos to an organized defense of America in a very short time. These people never got the credit they deserve until "Touching History" was written and published.
I cannot recommend this book too highly. In a time when confidence in the government is on the wane, and people are feeling a sense of despair, this book gives hope. There are some remarkably competent and professional people out there. It gave me some needed reassurance.
 9/11 radar data disputes author on key points July 15, 2008
0 out of 9 found this review helpful
I have been studying Lynn Spencer's book through the lens of the RADES radar data from 9/11, now freely available thanks to a FOIA release in 2007. The radar data is an equal opportunity employer. It has no agenda and does not discriminate. For this reason it is a powerful tool and could have been used as a "fact check" to confirm the testimony of Spencer's witnesses. Unfortunately, it seems the author did not make use of it.
It is well known that as time passes, memory fades. There is a tendency for eyewitnesses to embellish or exaggerate what happened, and 9/11 is no different. I exchanged several emails with the author, all of them cordial. I was interested to learn if Spencer had interviewed Laura Brown, the FAA official who in 2003 told the 9/11 Commission that the FAA set up phone bridges to the Department of Defense shortly after the first WTC impact.The Brown memo flatly refutes the official story that the DoD was out of the loop. The memo was even read into the official record, but it never appeared in the 9/11 Commission Report. Spencer replied that she did NOT interview Brown. Then she volunteered the following editorial comments: "it seems that two years after the fact, she [Brown] remembered the bits and pieces but not in a cohesive way. Sometimes in such circumstances, they blend (like Mineta's inadventant [sic] comments regarding AAL 77 - he was actually referring to UAL 93)."
In short, Spencer discounted the testimony of Brown and Mineta for the reasons I cited above. All of this is ironic, because Spencer conducted her own interviews with the pilots and NEADS staffers in 2006, that is, FIVE YEARS AFTER 9/11. She informed me of this in an email.
Well, what does the radar data show? It shows that Spencer's own witnesses embellished and/or confused the facts---the very thing she accused Brown and Mineta of doing. From the 9/11 radar data it is possible to calculate the flight speed of the NORAD fighters. The radar data shows that the flight speed of the Langley F-16s was NOT 700 mph as they approached Washington, as Spencer states in her book (p. 182), but only 400 mph. The reader gets the impression that the fighters were burning leather, but in fact they were poking along. In another case, Spencer writes that one of the Otis pilots broke the sound barrier en route to NY (p. 43). But the radar data proves otherwise. We must conclude that parts of Spencer's book are just as much fable as the 9/11 Commission Report. Spencer needs to listen to her own counsel. By her own reasoning the testimony of Laura Brown and Norman Mineta, given only two years after 9/11, is more credible than the testimony she collected five years down the road.
Spencer's book has even more serious problems, but space here is short. For a full critique of Touching History see my forthcoming book, THE 9/11 MYSTERY PLANE, to be released this September. Among other disclosures, the book will feature the first published analysis of the radar data from 9/11.
An Important Book July 13, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I first heard about this book from a childhood friend, Chuck Savall, who was one of the pilots in the air during 9/11 and who author Lynn Spencer highlights in 'Touching History.' Initially, I thought I didn't have the heart to read more about that horrible day, and the first few pages were tough. But Lynn is a very, very good author. She writes without hype, with an honest eye and ear, and leaves out all of the dumb extra drama which could've been so easy to put into this story. Because of this, the entire book was a complete page-turner. I read it in one day, which I never do.
This is a very important book. It sets the record straight. You hear the stories directly from those who were deeply involved. The commercial and military pilots had no agenda about the telling of their stories. They just spoke their truth as it appeared through their unique vantage point.
I'm personally not a big history buff. But THIS is an important historical book. I hope every school makes it required reading.
Touching History is a Great Piece of Work! Super for Pilots, Historians, or Anyone Who Wants to Know What Happened! July 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RG8R65CME1S9X I spent 10 years as a weapons controller ("scope dope") in NORAD and I researched the events of 911 for my book "A Glint in Time", but Lynn Spencer did the full job. There are things that you can still wonder about, but this work provides a great deal of expert insight. See my video review for more details. --Frank Derfler [...]
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