Rating: 
Summary: Inside 9-11: What Really Happened
Review: Accidentally, I picked up this book at the JFK Airport, New York. I read the whole book during my flight back to HK. Der Speigel succeeded in making me believe that the materials are reliable, yet the book is not so boring as an official report. It is a high standard report that leads one to look inside the 9-11 story and history. It is informative, elaborative, attractive and emotionally evocative.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing book about what happened
Review: Although there are already many books about 9-11, this book stands out. Composed of brief but intertwining stories about the terrorists and those fighting to stay alive, this fast-paced book reads more like a thriller than the other dry, academic books on the subject. I couldn't put it down. As a New Yorker, I was just a few miles from the disaster and could smell the smoke for days. I was initially reluctant to read the book -- I thought I already knew what happened. But this book in particular helps bring the events of those days into clearer focus. Meticulously researched and well-written, the book contains some amazing survivor stories, but also details the 911 calls from people trapped inside the buildings, conversations from the airplanes, and even the hotel rooms rented by the terrorists. It also explains what motivated a group of unlikely students to orchestrate such an unimaginable act. The book is remarkable not in its analaysis of the tragedy, but in the seemingly mundane and innocuous details of the firefighters, victims, and terrorists. The events of 9-11 are often told from the "big picture" perspective. This book provides insight into the human stories. Particularly amazing is the appendix in the back of the book. This resource contains the bios of the terrorists, succinct explanations of Al Qaeda, and the complete Al Qaeda terrorist handbook found in the rental car of one of the terrorists. While I have read snipets of this in the past, I do not know of anywhere else where this chilling document is available in its entirety. There are many books about 9-11, but no other book provides the same level of detail. This book will continue to engross readers in years to come.
Rating: 
Summary: engrossing and informative
Review: An excellent account of the events of the day, focusing mainly on the Trade Center.
Without a single picture the authors are able to convey both the horror of the attack and the bravery of both victims and rescuers.
This is a book about what happenned, not really the why-as such it is great reporting rather than speculation.
Read the appendicies, they are chilling.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling and compelling
Review: As others have noted, there will no doubt be bigger, more detailed books about 9/11 as more now-classified data is released, but at this point *this* is *the* definitive book. Der Spiegel, the German magazine, harnessed their substantial investigative and editorial resources to compile the data for this book, and their attention to detail is impressive. Equally impressive, and what I feel is the most effective technique in the book, is that each chapter tells the story of a few people -- some of them "key players" in the events, others simply people in the wrong place at a very wrong time. An immense amount of activity took place in a very short time frame, and the book does an admirable (although not completely perfect) job of presenting it in a comprehensible and compelling manner. I literally couldn't put it down, and read the whole thing in one night. If you're looking for a "tribute" book about the victims or responders to the attack, this isn't it. However, if you're looking for the very best, most detailed chronology of the events currently available, this is it. High praise and great thanks to Der Spiegel for this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Rubish
Review: Bla bla bla. Read "Inside Job" by Jim Marrs and watch the DVD "9/11 In Plane Sight", maybe you'll learn the truth!
Rating:
Summary: The Inside Scoop
Review: I have always been a bit hesitant when picking up a book that has more then one author, let alone a full reporting staff. Many times I find that you can either tell very distinctly when one author finishing and a another author starts or when there are a lot of authors, it tends to be a mix of styles that never really flow together. Somehow this book had none of this, it must have been a very strong editor or a translation thing, but the book spoke with one voice and was very evenly put together. The book had different sections, pre attack, attack and post attack and all three were insightful and well written. This is the first book on the topic that I have read that went into a good amount of detail about the individual hijackers, it really tried to paint a picture of who they were and what theirs lives were like leading up to the event. It did not really explain why they would do what they did, but it did give the reader some understanding of who they were. During the section of the book that detailed the attack there were a number of interviews and a running description of the event, both were well done. But the part that I found most powerful was that the authors placed bits of 911 calls from people in the towers into the text that really brought a lot of emotion into the reading. Ok so it is a rather cheap way to do it, but it worked and you really felt the fear and desperation in the situation. Overall I liked the book, it was well written and put together. My only complaint would be that I felt the last section, the aftermath, was not as engrossing as the first two sections, but to be honest that is problem that it would be difficult for any author to top the drama of the attacks. One other minor point, in non-fiction I like a few pictures to let me see whom you are talking about etc., this book had none. If you are interested in the topic this is a good place to land.
Rating:
Summary: The Inside Scoop
Review: I have always been a bit hesitant when picking up a book that has more then one author, let alone a full reporting staff. Many times I find that you can either tell very distinctly when one author finishing and a another author starts or when there are a lot of authors, it tends to be a mix of styles that never really flow together. Somehow this book had none of this, it must have been a very strong editor or a translation thing, but the book spoke with one voice and was very evenly put together. The book had different sections, pre attack, attack and post attack and all three were insightful and well written. This is the first book on the topic that I have read that went into a good amount of detail about the individual hijackers, it really tried to paint a picture of who they were and what theirs lives were like leading up to the event. It did not really explain why they would do what they did, but it did give the reader some understanding of who they were. During the section of the book that detailed the attack there were a number of interviews and a running description of the event, both were well done. But the part that I found most powerful was that the authors placed bits of 911 calls from people in the towers into the text that really brought a lot of emotion into the reading. Ok so it is a rather cheap way to do it, but it worked and you really felt the fear and desperation in the situation. Overall I liked the book, it was well written and put together. My only complaint would be that I felt the last section, the aftermath, was not as engrossing as the first two sections, but to be honest that is problem that it would be difficult for any author to top the drama of the attacks. One other minor point, in non-fiction I like a few pictures to let me see whom you are talking about etc., this book had none. If you are interested in the topic this is a good place to land.
Rating: 
Summary: Half of what I was looking for
Review: I really wanted a detailed account and analysis of the events of that day and that first half of this book does just that in a gripping (though slightly truncated) fashion. Unfortunately, the rest of it gets lost in the minutae of the investigation in Germany, background of terrorist groups, and personal details of the lives of survivors. Nicely done, but not totally what I was after.
Rating:
Summary: September 11 and the German connection.
Review: In the last six months, I read the New York Times book Out of the Blue, and to be honest the Germans did a better job with this book. I think both this and Out of the Blue are 5 star reads though. What really mattered was the extra information Der Spiegel put into this book. As an example--how did the U.S. Government figure out the passengers who hijacked the four planes? Well on one of the calls to an airline headquarters, the stewardess stated the seats the hijackers occupied, and one of these was Atta. This information was not in Out of the Blue.
Also interviews with Atta's father and other hijackers families. The beginning of the book talks quite a bit about the two planes which crashed into the World Trade Center. Not as much info on the Pennsylvania crash or the Pentagon attack. What is include gives good detail. There is more in depth material on the New York attacks. The next to last chapter details how much of the operation was conceived and supported in Hamberg, Germany. Many of the hijackers not only were educated here, but also settled down there. Since the authors are Germans, much is detailed on the German connection. In the appendix are some of Atta's writing and the drivel of Bin Laden. One wonders who believes in this stuff. It is apparent, bin Laden has not only managed to hijack four planes but believers in a religion. The writers attempt to make some analysis on this in the summary, but it will still leave the reader shaking his head on these beliefs. One small minus was a number of typos in the copy.
Altogether a great read on a tragic event for America.
Rating:
Summary: September 11 and the German connection.
Review: In the last six months, I read the New York Times book Out of the Blue, and to be honest the Germans did a better job with this book. I think both this and Out of the Blue are 5 star reads though. What really mattered was the extra information Der Spiegel put into this book. As an example--how did the U.S. Government figure out the passengers who hijacked the four planes? Well on one of the calls to an airline headquarters, the stewardess stated the seats the hijackers occupied, and one of these was Atta. This information was not in Out of the Blue.
Also interviews with Atta's father and other hijackers families. The beginning of the book talks quite a bit about the two planes which crashed into the World Trade Center. Not as much info on the Pennsylvania crash or the Pentagon attack. What is include gives good detail. There is more in depth material on the New York attacks. The next to last chapter details how much of the operation was conceived and supported in Hamberg, Germany. Many of the hijackers not only were educated here, but also settled down there. Since the authors are Germans, much is detailed on the German connection. In the appendix are some of Atta's writing and the drivel of Bin Laden. One wonders who believes in this stuff. It is apparent, bin Laden has not only managed to hijack four planes but believers in a religion. The writers attempt to make some analysis on this in the summary, but it will still leave the reader shaking his head on these beliefs. One small minus was a number of typos in the copy.
Altogether a great read on a tragic event for America.
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