The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation

by Philip Shenon

Overview

In a work of history that will make headlines, New York Times reporter Philip Shenon investigates the investigation of 9/11 and tells the inside story of most important federal commission since the the Warren Commission. Shenon uncovers startling new information about the inner workings of the 9/11 commission and its relationship with the Bush White House. The Commission will change our understanding of the 9/11 investigation -- and of the attacks themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446511315
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	02/05/2008
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	907,992
File size:	641 KB

About the Author

Philip Shenon is an investigative reporter with the New York Times, based in Washington. He was the lead reporter on the investigation of the 9/11 Commission and has held several of the most important assignments of the Washington Bureau, including chief Defense Department Correspondent, Diplomatic Correspondent, Congressional Correspondent and Justice Department Correspondent. He was one of two New York Times reporters embedded with American grounds troops during the invasion of Iraq and worked in pre-war Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iran for the New York Times foreign staff.

Editorial Reviews

The attacks of September 11, 2001, were over within an hour and a half, but the aftermath remains with us still. At first, the Bush administration opposed the formation of any formal public study of the events of 9/11. Eventually though, a commission headed by Republican Tom Kean was appointed; it first convened 441 days after the al-Qaeda assault. The Kean Commission faced a behemoth task; as they interviewed over 1,200 people in ten countries, they were forced to persevere against outside pressure and official interference. In The Commission, Philip Shenon, the lead New York Times reporter on the investigation, produces an uncensored history of this critical chapter in American history. The book reveals not only the inside story of the Kean Commission; it also offers new insights into the attacks themselves.

Though the 9/11 Commission might not seem like the stuff of high drama, Shenon, an investigative reporter at The New York Times, expertly quarries numerous documents and interviews to produce a mesmerizing account. He offers vivid portraits of everyone from Henry Kissinger to Samuel R. Berger, from George Tenet to Condoleezza Rice. Few reputations emerge unscathed.
—The New York Times Book Review

Jacob Heilbrunn

Mr. Shenon is a skillful writer and storyteller as well as a dogged reporter. In The Commission he makes bureaucratic warfare exciting, largely because he has a keen grasp of human frailty and folly…Ultimately, as Mr. Shenon shows, the failure at the highest levels of the United States government was human. That is the real back story of 9/11.
—The New York Times

Evan Thomas

Shenon has provided a detailed narrative of the most important government investigative body since the Warren Commission. The Commission is full of vivid anecdotes…
—The Washington Post

Michael Dobbs

NEW YORK TIMES reporter Shenon tells the behind-the-scenes story of the workings of the 9/11 Commission and the production of its report. Dave Mallow’s narration fits the book’s cool tone. If anything, his voice is too professionally mellow, like that of a late-night FM radio host. But he delivers the material with an easy and transparent expertise. He conveys feeling and opinion subtly and in doing so mirrors the book, which reports the events and the reactions of those involved without much overt commentary, though it certainly takes sides. Despite the lack of histrionics, this story of the sacrifice of truth and even national security for political expediency and personal advantage will anger and shock most listeners. W.M. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

JUN/JUL 08 - AudioFile