Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11
by: Lynn Spencer
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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.
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
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Greatbook for pilots
Hard to put down after starting.Well written .The true story of what went wrong and right on 9-11 with the air traffic control system,military and airline pilots.Not just dry information but true personal stories.
Rating: - Touching History
This book was expertly written.The personal accounts of pilots, air traffic controllers and the military are, at times, almost too incredible to believe.The timeline the author uses engrosses the reader and at times it feels like "all this" is happening over the course of a day or two, not a matter of just a few hours.If you are really interested in how the skies of America were shut down that day, then this is the book for you.Even if you don't have any sort of airline, air traffic or military ... Read More
Rating: - Never Have So Many Owed So Much to So Few...
Ms. Spencer's book is evocative of Sebastian Junger's "Perfect Storm" in its ability to relate a story where the reader already knows the ending but cannot help but be drawn deeply into the superbly rendered minute-by-minute account of that terrible day. The author does an excellent job of explaining complex military and aviation procedures in an interesting, completely understandable way.
We are introduced to many people who most of us probably never heard of before but whose response to 9/11 ... Read More
Rating: 
- A great book about the events of 9/11
In "Touching History", Lynn Spencer retells the story of September 11th 2001 in the perspective of the air traffic controllers on ground. As an ATC, your responsibility is to watch the planes that are monitored on the screen and direct the pilots to their destination. But, on that tragic morning, the control towers were not able to locate the whereabouts of the hijacked planes which made it impossible to know where they were going.
Spencer greatly describes the confusion and stress that went on that ... Read More
Rating: - Days with No Contrails
My daily 45 minute drive to work on the prairies of Colorado always gave me time to look at the jetliner contrails in the blue skies.Through my grief-stricken eyes following the days of 9/11, the sky seemed bereft and naked as there were no contrail for several days.In her excellently written book, Lynn Spencer answered many of my questions about the unprecedented and brave decision to close the US airspace. Although Spencer covered only one documented incident of a hijacking that the closure thwarted, ... Read More
- Greatbook for pilotsHard to put down after starting.Well written .The true story of what went wrong and right on 9-11 with the air traffic control system,military and airline pilots.Not just dry information but true personal stories.
- Touching HistoryThis book was expertly written.The personal accounts of pilots, air traffic controllers and the military are, at times, almost too incredible to believe.The timeline the author uses engrosses the reader and at times it feels like "all this" is happening over the course of a day or two, not a matter of just a few hours.If you are really interested in how the skies of America were shut down that day, then this is the book for you.Even if you don't have any sort of airline, air traffic or military ... Read More
- Never Have So Many Owed So Much to So Few...Ms. Spencer's book is evocative of Sebastian Junger's "Perfect Storm" in its ability to relate a story where the reader already knows the ending but cannot help but be drawn deeply into the superbly rendered minute-by-minute account of that terrible day. The author does an excellent job of explaining complex military and aviation procedures in an interesting, completely understandable way.
We are introduced to many people who most of us probably never heard of before but whose response to 9/11 ... Read More
- A great book about the events of 9/11In "Touching History", Lynn Spencer retells the story of September 11th 2001 in the perspective of the air traffic controllers on ground. As an ATC, your responsibility is to watch the planes that are monitored on the screen and direct the pilots to their destination. But, on that tragic morning, the control towers were not able to locate the whereabouts of the hijacked planes which made it impossible to know where they were going.
Spencer greatly describes the confusion and stress that went on that ... Read More
- Days with No ContrailsMy daily 45 minute drive to work on the prairies of Colorado always gave me time to look at the jetliner contrails in the blue skies.Through my grief-stricken eyes following the days of 9/11, the sky seemed bereft and naked as there were no contrail for several days.In her excellently written book, Lynn Spencer answered many of my questions about the unprecedented and brave decision to close the US airspace. Although Spencer covered only one documented incident of a hijacking that the closure thwarted, ... Read More
