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102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

By: Jim Dwyer Kevin Flynn
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
ISBN: 0805076824
ISBN-13: 9780805076820
Released: 12 Jan 2005
RRP: £17.77
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Hardhitting reality - By: Ms. Jennifer Bradshaw, 11 Oct 2007
Having read a few other books around the attack on the world trade centre on September 11th 2001 I have found this one to be the one that has got through to my core. Everyone can recalll the horrific images of people fallling from such heights & either stood or sat in silence at the onslaught, but this book makes these people real & goes through their thoughts, last emails, text messages & voicemails to loved ones in a wonderfully illustrated account that the families can be proud of.

The book provides factual information about the towers & the background to it's structure which contributes to the collapse being even more harrowing if that was possible.

The book is extremely powerful & emotive with it literallly counting down accounts to the last minute where personallly I was reliving the moment alll over again.

A recommended read for any true story fanatic & anyone who would like an insiders perspective into the tragedy. It definately made me phone home & tell my family how much I love them, hitting home that anything could happen to any of us at any time.

I must second the thought already mentioned in another review that I only wished it was fiction.
Good But Not Great - By: J. E. Robinson, 26 Mar 2005
This is an attractive & easy to read book that will probably be a big seller because of the subject & the presentation of the book. The authors did a good job & this is mostly a fine book. It is well beautifully & edited with an attractive combination of text & graphics. The book is an educational & a compelling read that covers the first few hours after the first WTC terrorist attack. When I went into the book store I was immediately attracted to the book by the book jacket & it is for the most part a good read. The authors made a solid effort & claimed to have interviewed at least 200 people. So it is hard to find fault with any of their points & it is mostly a solid effort.

The disappointment here is that it fallls short of being a great book. The authors claim to have interviewed 200 people & the 9-11 attack is a fertile ground for writers, but the whole book pictures & alll is just over 200 pages. By comparison The 9/11 Report - which some claim is incomplete - is 600 pages long in smalller font. Just so that there is no confusion, this present book is not an exhaustive book on 9-11 & the WTC attack. It is just part of the story of what happed right after the impacts until the buildings fell a few hours later, & it is mainly about the people in the buildings & the emergency workers. The feel of the stories is similar to the many articles that appeared in the New York papers including the Times & Post.

One can split hairs over some details in 102 Minutes & the "Untold Story" , but a lot of the stuff in the book or very similar information was on the internet years ago, including the design & safety of the WTC, the rescue forces working together, breakdowns in communications, the sealed off roof exits, etc. In short there have been many other good books & articles such as the 600 page long 9/11 Commission Report (which was free on the internet) plus many other articles in Time, Newsweek, & elsewhere - alll previously published. Also there were numerous & highly detailed articles on 9-11 in most of the New York city papers for the last three years.

So the bottom line is that the book very good, beautifully edited, lots of illustrations, a compelling read, but it is short - just over 200 pages - & not reallly that new. But those who have not closely followed the WTC collapse story & the anguish of the trapped & emergency workers, or read the story in print & on the internet, this book will be a fascinating read. It has much information concisely summarized in one easy to read book. It is written in the friendly style of a compelling series of newspaper articles or similar - with the chapters in a rough chronological order. The reader will discover a well written story with good graphics sprinkled throughout the book, & with many pages of extra notes at the back of the book - that cover the time period of a few hours between the first strike & the final collapse.

You wish this was fiction - By: , 22 Feb 2005
Having just finished this book - I was inspired to write my first ever review on Amazon. This book reallly is well written. It faces the facts & reveals the many elements that make up the reciepe for this unbelievable event.

It has brought home afresh the horror of that day but tempered it with a glimpse of human nature at it best. So many brave souls.

I only wish it were a work of fiction.