Flying on Northwest Airlines in mid-2004, journalist and writer Jacobsen (WomensWallStreet.com) decided that a group of Middle Eastern men were acting suspiciously, apparently because the men were talking to each other, were using the bathroom too much, and because of the "cold, defiant look" she reports she got from one with whom she had earlier "exchanged friendly words." When she and her husband shared her concerns with a flight attendant, she writes, she was told that Federal Air Marshals were on the plane and that they were on top of the situation. Although she was later told by investigators that the men were in fact 14 Syrian musicians backing up a well-known Middle Eastern singer (the "Syrian Wayne Newton"), Jacobsen remained convinced that the men were part of a terrorist plot conducting "probes" of American aviation. She wrote up her suspicions for an article that caused a brief Internet sensation: it was publicized by such right-wing writers and proponents of racial profiling as Michelle Malkin and generally greeted with rolling eyes and chortles by those more on the center and left. She has since parlayed the original article into a continuing series on WomensWallStreet.com, much of which has now been distilled into this book, which contains the original article, descriptions of her testimony before Congress, an account of her (not particularly thorough) "investigation" into the Syrian musicians, and a condemnation of government failure to address the issue. Annotation :2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

"This is an interesting, informative, and important work. Overall, the quality of the essays is very high, and the focus of the book is on a topic of great importance." Stephen Nathanson, Northeastern University. --

Aviation security expert Philip Baum delves into the archives to reveal the stories behind the most astonishing and shocking crimes in aviation history, calling on real-life testimonies from hijackers, crew members, passengers and politicians. The human stories behind the criminal attacks that have plagued aviation since 1911 are detailed in this authoritative and thrilling account of aviation security history, from the legendary hijacks by left-wing and Palestinian groups of the twentieth century, to the more recent suicide attacks carried out by fundamentalists and the psychologically disturbed.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “This is history at its most immediate and moving…A marvelous and memorable book.” —Jon Meacham ​“Remarkable…A priceless civic gift…On page after page, a reader will encounter words that startle, or make him angry, or heartbroken.” —The Wall Street Journal “Had me turning each page with my heart in my throat…There’s been a lot written about 9/11, but nothing like this. I urge you to read it.” —Katie Couric The first comprehensive oral history of September 11, 2001—a panoramic narrative woven from voices on the front lines of an unprecedented national trauma. Over the past eighteen years, monumental literature has been published about 9/11, from Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower to The 9/11 Commission Report. But one perspective has been missing up to this point—a 360-degree account of the day told through firsthand. Now, in The Only Plane in the Sky, Garrett Graff tells the story of the day as it was lived—in the words of those who lived it. Drawing on never-before-published transcripts, declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly five hundred government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, friends, and family members, he paints the most vivid and human portrait of the September 11 attacks yet. Beginning in the predawn hours of airports in the Northeast, we meet the ticket agents who unknowingly usher terrorists onto their flights, and the flight attendants inside the hijacked planes. In New York, first responders confront a scene of unimaginable horror at the Twin Towers. From a secret bunker under the White House, officials watch for incoming planes on radar. Aboard unarmed fighter jets in the air, pilots make a pact to fly into a hijacked airliner if necessary to bring it down. In the skies above Pennsylvania, civilians aboard United 93 make the ultimate sacrifice in their place. Then, as the day moves forward and flights are grounded nationwide, Air Force One circles the country alone, its passengers isolated and afraid. More than simply a collection of eyewitness testimonies, The Only Plane in the Sky is the historic narrative of how ordinary people grappled with extraordinary events in real time: the father and son caught on different ends of the impact zone; the firefighter searching for his wife who works at the World Trade Center; the operator of in-flight telephone calls who promises to share a passenger’s last words with his family; the beloved FDNY chaplain who bravely performs last rites for the dying, losing his own life when the Towers collapse; and the generals at the Pentagon who break down and weep when they are barred from trying to rescue their colleagues. At once a powerful tribute to the courage of everyday Americans and an essential addition to the literature of 9/11, The Only Plane in the Sky weaves together the unforgettable personal experiences of the men and women who found themselves caught at the center of an unprecedented human drama. The result is a unique, profound, and searing exploration of humanity on a day that changed the course of history, and all of our lives.

Winnie-the-Pooh meets The Blair Witch Project in this very grown-up tale of a camping trip gone horribly awry. Twelve six-year-olds and their three adult chaperones head into the woods on a camping trip. None of them make it out alive. The Laws of the Skies tells the harrowing story of those days in the woods, of illness and accidents, and a murderous child. Part fairy tale, part horror film, this macabre fable takes us through the minds of all the members of this doomed party, murderers and murdered alike. “Excellent...crystalline." —New York Times, Summer Reads

Examines the events prior to and following the crash of Cosmos 954. Written by a southerner, the book suffers from factual errors and obvious prejudice.