This book was a fascinating look into what transpired in the air during the 9-11 nightmare. The authors access to the facts and the real participants made this book one I could not put down. Being a pilot myself it amazed me to read about what it was like to be in the air on that day, sitting in the cockpit not knowing if your plane was the next one to become part of history, and from the military who was tasked to protect us from a unknown enemy. The authors writing flows from the first page till the last plane lands, She really knows aviation and it shows. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is into aviation and even those who are not, just the reading of the facts makes this book a must read.

With her extensive research, Lynn Spencer has opened the doors to the numerous events that occurred behind the scenes during the Sept 11 attacks on the United States. Ms. Spencer's investigation of the inner workings of the the U.S. air traffic control system, as well as the military's, takes us inside the intricate network of people who control the skies over the United States; the controllers, pilots, and the support staff that all work in tandem to keep our skies safe when we board a plane.
Ms. Spencer begins by reminding us of the early eronious reports of a small plane striking the north tower, and carries us through the buildup to the uncertainty and hysteria that most of us felt as the events unfolded throughout the day. She takes us inside the cockpits of the military fighters, as well as the commercial airliners that were affected by the events of that tragic day. She taught us that the military and civilian ATC do not speak a common language, yet they managed to find a common ground in order to take control of our skies in a few short hours.
It was an amazing story, one that I would have found hard to believe if I had not lived through the events of that day.

This book for me started out a bit slow but I ended up unable to put it down. For me several mysteries were solved - such as the mysterious plane some eyewitness claimed to see by the Flight 93 wreckage - the rumors that there was a 5th airliner that was close to being hijacked (there was - and learn how a quick decision by the pilot probably saved the White House or Congress) -

Learn how the fighter pilots of Otis in MA and Langley in DC had to make some quick decisions and bypass the normally rigid chain of command on getting shoot down authority - how the VP and Secret Service was involved in that decision -

This book was written by an airline pilot who has done a lot of interviews - From the Head ATC guy overseeing ALL US Airspace (and first day on the job no less!) - to the ATC personnel - fighter pilots, airline pilots, Secret Service, and even the pilot of Air Force One.

It is a riveting book that will solve some lingering questions

I highly recommend this book!

I couldn't put this book down. I read it in 24 hours and promptly gave it to friends, who also loved it. It's not as though we don't know what happened here, but it's interesting to see what was going on behind the scenes.

I found this book to be extremely interesting, fascinating. Fills us in on unpublished information that I did not know. It is a must read for people who study 9/11. It gives one hope that there are actually perople who operate outside of the box in an emergency situation.

This is a must-read for those who want to know how that awful day unfolded. Gut-wrenching and spellbinding, you'll find yourself shouting warnings to the book's characters in a fruitless effort to avoid the obvious outcome. If you can possibly manage to get through this book in more than one sitting then you have nerves of steel.

I gave it only 4 stars simply because of the complex language of aviation that is used through-out the book. It makes sense because that is the subject and place of the events however most readers will probably find it rather confusing and slow-going in places. Luckily, I was born into aviation so quickly adapted to the lingo but others may not.

This book does a good job of telling the basic story of the confusion that reigned in the air on 9/11. It does a great job of telling how air traffic controllers had no real idea of which planes were hijacked and which ones were not. It also is very interesting to read the steps that were considered and sometimes taken by long haul flights over the Pacific to forestall any takeovers of their plans. The aspects dealing with Canadian flights is also very interesting to read.

The book is extremely weak as it trys to portray the military pilots as significant contributors for 9/11. I say this with no ill will but the military was at best a spectator to these events and the author tries to portray them as hero's who rushed in and saved the day and prevented it from being worse. Yet that doesn't really hold water. It's too bad because it takes away from the real hero's who actions deserve and are worthy of praise and mention.

Touching History is a suspenseful book. The author, Lynn Spencer, writes mostly from the perspective of the air traffic controllers. She spends many hours interviewing the controllers, and summarizing the many volumes of The 9/11 Commission Reports, to write her detailed book. I learned many details about 9/11, and fortunately the book was nonpartisan,as no one was blamed for the tragic events of that day.

The first plane hijacked is American Airlines Flight 11. It is off their radar screen and the plane is not in radio contact. CNN reports that a small plane has hit one of the Twin Towers, so they wrongly assume that it is not their plane. When another plane goes off course, United Airlines Flight 175, they lose radio contact. At first, they get Flight 11 mixed up with Flight 175.

The pilots are asking for guidance from the control tower, but at first, the air traffic controllers are ignoring them, because they busy trying to deal with the missing planes.

Eventually the air traffic controllers realize that their planes have been hijacked, but they do not know how many planes have been hijacked.

The Air National Guard scramble their jets and thereby, create sonic blooms over our cities. However, the pilots are not sure of their mission, or where it is. They fly towards the open sea of the Atlantic, New York City, and towards Washington D.C. Some of the pilots almost run out of fuel. Eventually they find something to do. They escort planes that are forced to land. They follow United flight 93 before it goes out of view and crashes.

When our air space is closed, there is a big problem. There are hundreds of flights and they all need to land somewhere. Fortunately, our friends, the Canadians, allow us into their air space so we can land the planes.

This is all detailed in the book.

The author explains why they are the rumors about Flight 93 being shot down. Also interesting is in learning about Untied Flight 23, JFK-Los Angeles. This flight was order back to the gate before take off. This is fortunate as there were four young Arabs men in first class. Were these Arabs men identified and questioned by the FBI?

My only criticism of the book was that sometimes it was hard to follow. I had to refer to The 9/11 Commission Report Book to clarify the chain of events. A time line and charts would have made Touching History less confusing. I did not want to spend a few hours sorting it out. Because of the confusion, I am giving this book 4 stars. Five stars to the air traffic controllers, and the Air Force National Guard, who did their best under horrible conditions.

This book turns out to be a piece of propaganda containing little truth and lots of self-aggrandizing fiction. Reading it and finding out the actual truth after the fact has left me with a distinctly 1984 feeling.

Some will continue to promote this book as fact, but as they say "who are you going to believe?" Personally, I find the (bipartisan) 9/11 commission to be the most credible voice in this room, and they say it belongs on the fiction rack.

[...]

Why does it matter? they say it best in the above piece:
"We believed that telling misleading stories about what happened undermines the public's confidence in government, spawns conspiracy theories and compromises efforts to prepare for future events. Truth, not wishful thinking, is the most enduring memorial we can leave."

Three members of the 9-11 commission today write that this book has accounts that are just not true. The fighter pilon might have been brave, but he took off 20 minutes after the wreckage of Flight 93 was located. They found many other errors, not malicious, but based on 'heroic embellishment". 'The afterword to "Touching History" was written by General Arnold, despite his having been forced to retract his testimony to the 9/11 commission. ("I was wrong," he told the panel at its final hearing. "I was wrong.")'. [...]

If you check out the op-ed article in the New York Times of 9-14-08, you can read a carefully written article about this book, and how untrue accounts are being passed off as truth. It is shameful that the facts, as carefully established by the 9-11 commission, are ignored in the frenzy to sell a book with sensationalism. Self serving accounts by politicians and military flacks can not change the fact that we were not prepared for this attack, and except for the firefighters in New York, and the passengers on flight 93, there are very few heroes here, including the self proclaimed heroes in this book.

Riveting. Lyn Spencer writes an excellent account as seen through the eyes of those in command of our airlines during the 911 "emergency". These tragic events hit close to home for every one of us who ever piloted a passenger plant and subsequently turned our nation's attention to the War on Terror. As the author of Inspiring Leadership: Character and Ethics Matter, I devote an entire chapter to the chief pilot of American flight #77, my friend and classmate, Chic Burlingame: and as I read Spencer's book gained a greater appreciation of what he must have faced on this tragic day. Spencer hits a home run as an author and her book is a must read for not only interested Americans but also those who believe that we are not immune to this type of event ever occurring again. Lessons of history are important if we learn from them that we will never repeat our mistakes or drop our guard against those who want to end our free society.

This book is full information from a pilot who was in the skies on 911. It is a real eye-opener. It is worth reading. HOWEVER........THE AUDIO VERSION IS VERY ANNOYING. The reader should have been a man not a woman. My Daughter and I were hooked on the story but could hardly stand the intonation, inflection, and sound of the voice of the reader. We had to stop listening after the last plane crashed. I would recommend an abridged audio version.
I read the book and it was great!!!

I wanted to know more of what happened, the goings on behind the scenes right after and beyond the day of 9\11. This book was very enlightening. It answered how the planes were grounded. Why the airspace over Washington was able to be invaded. Either the terrorists were extraordinarily prepared or "lucky" upon picking that day because of the events that the military had scheduled on that day, thus causing them to be away from the areas where they were needed. It was a great book. A little hard to absorb all the agencies involved-military and civilian but I got over that.

This is a very compelling book. Well written, and a very fast read. The subject was of great interest to me and Ms. Spencer helped me understand the huge dilemma that our country and it's dedicated soldiers and employees faced on Sept. 11, 2001.

This book was awesome. I couldn't put it down. We should never forget what happened on 9/11/01.

Excellent account of what happened that fateful day. Lynn Spencer takes you into the cockpits of the airplanes, into the minds of the air traffic controllers, the fighter pilots, and the government officials and personnel making desparate, spur of the moment decisions. Absolutely riveting; you won't be able to put in down!

Outstanding account of what really happened on 9/11. This book takes you inside the cockpits, air traffic control centers, and headquarters of avilation / military agencies that managed the 9/11 attacks. I was unable to put this book down which resulted in a couple of sleepless nights. Some of the stories brought me to tears. This book is a must read and brings into perspective the power of courage and the human spirit despite incredible odds and circumstances that were beyond our imagination.

Incredible book!

absolutely a riveting read. I opened it and I finished it upon rising at 5 A.M. the following morning. TOUCHING HISTORY cannot be put down because you "need to know" what happens next. Masterly suspenseful and I learned so much about 9-11 that I will never forget the day America went to war.

I have a very high opinion of this book. I found it quite remarkable.

We all remember the events of 9/11, and how ghastly they were. What we did not know are the remarkable events that happened in airplanes all over the United States that awful day. There was a tense, frightening, and deeply touching drama taking place above the United States, as military pilots worked out a way to defend the cities, and commercial pilots found ways to cope with a situation that had not been fully explained to them.

I have nothing but respect for the American military; I also have profound respect for the commercial airline pilots---many of whom are ANG pilots as well----who fly the nation's passengers around the country.
This book increased my respect.

The American aviation workers, civilian and military, were able to move from utter chaos to an organized defense of America in a very short time. These people never got the credit they deserve until "Touching History" was written and published.

I cannot recommend this book too highly. In a time when confidence in the government is on the wane, and people are feeling a sense of despair, this book gives hope. There are some remarkably competent and professional people out there. It gave me some needed reassurance.

On the morning of 9-11, our little Cessna was one of the thousands of dots on the radar screens of America, so as I later watched the horrific events in New York and Washington DC unfold, I couldn't help but wonder what other pilots were feeling and thinking as they were told, without explanation, to get their plane on the ground NOW. This book gives an insight into the thoughts of some of those pilots -- some who were "escorted" down by fighter jets, some who could see the towers burning in the distance, some whose friends were in the cockpits of those doomed airplanes. It is rather frightening to read of the incompetence and lack of coordination among government agencies, but it is very encouraging to read of the quick thinking and heroism of ordinary people called upon to do something they could not possibly have trained for. In moments of crisis, it's impossible to predict who will fall to pieces and who will step up and be a hero. This was a fascinating book -- well researched and well written, and with lessons to be learned before we are called upon again to respond to the unthinkable.

I have been studying Lynn Spencer's book through the lens of the RADES radar data from 9/11, now freely available thanks to a FOIA release in 2007. The radar data is an equal opportunity employer. It has no agenda and does not discriminate. For this reason it is a powerful tool and could have been used as a "fact check" to confirm the testimony of Spencer's witnesses. Unfortunately, it seems the author did not make use of it.

It is well known that as time passes, memory fades. There is a tendency for eyewitnesses to embellish or exaggerate what happened, and 9/11 is no different. I exchanged several emails with the author, all of them cordial. I was interested to learn if Spencer had interviewed Laura Brown, the FAA official who in 2003 told the 9/11 Commission that the FAA set up phone bridges to the Department of Defense shortly after the first WTC impact.The Brown memo flatly refutes the official story that the DoD was out of the loop. The memo was even read into the official record, but it never appeared in the 9/11 Commission Report. Spencer replied that she did NOT interview Brown. Then she volunteered the following editorial comments: "it seems that two years after the fact, she [Brown] remembered the bits and pieces but not in a cohesive way. Sometimes in such circumstances, they blend (like Mineta's inadventant [sic] comments regarding AAL 77 - he was actually referring to UAL 93)."

In short, Spencer discounted the testimony of Brown and Mineta for the reasons I cited above. All of this is ironic, because Spencer conducted her own interviews with the pilots and NEADS staffers in 2006, that is, FIVE YEARS AFTER 9/11. She informed me of this in an email.

Well, what does the radar data show? It shows that Spencer's own witnesses embellished and/or confused the facts---the very thing she accused Brown and Mineta of doing. From the 9/11 radar data it is possible to calculate the flight speed of the NORAD fighters. The radar data shows that the flight speed of the Langley F-16s was NOT 700 mph as they approached Washington, as Spencer states in her book (p. 182), but only 400 mph. The reader gets the impression that the fighters were burning leather, but in fact they were poking along. In another case, Spencer writes that one of the Otis pilots broke the sound barrier en route to NY (p. 43). But the radar data proves otherwise. We must conclude that parts of Spencer's book are just as much fable as the 9/11 Commission Report. Spencer needs to listen to her own counsel. By her own reasoning the testimony of Laura Brown and Norman Mineta, given only two years after 9/11, is more credible than the testimony she collected five years down the road.

Spencer's book has even more serious problems, but space here is short. For a full critique of Touching History see my forthcoming book, THE 9/11 MYSTERY PLANE, to be released this September. Among other disclosures, the book will feature the first published analysis of the radar data from 9/11.

I first heard about this book from a childhood friend, Chuck Savall, who was one of the pilots in the air during 9/11 and who author Lynn Spencer highlights in 'Touching History.' Initially, I thought I didn't have the heart to read more about that horrible day, and the first few pages were tough. But Lynn is a very, very good author. She writes without hype, with an honest eye and ear, and leaves out all of the dumb extra drama which could've been so easy to put into this story. Because of this, the entire book was a complete page-turner. I read it in one day, which I never do.

This is a very important book. It sets the record straight. You hear the stories directly from those who were deeply involved. The commercial and military pilots had no agenda about the telling of their stories. They just spoke their truth as it appeared through their unique vantage point.

I'm personally not a big history buff. But THIS is an important historical book. I hope every school makes it required reading.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RG8R65CME1S9X I spent 10 years as a weapons controller ("scope dope") in NORAD and I researched the events of 911 for my book "A Glint in Time", but Lynn Spencer did the full job. There are things that you can still wonder about, but this work provides a great deal of expert insight. See my video review for more details. --Frank Derfler [...]

I picked this book up at Costco two days ago having heard nothing about it. It tells the story of the response to the 9/11 attack as it was improvised by the military, the airline pilots and the air traffic controllers. A little bit of it was shown in the movie "United 93" but in that film it appeared that the military was completely ineffective. In fact, the military response was rapid and effective but the nation's air defense command was fighting to stay in existence at the time and had extremely limited capability. In an afterward to the book, General Larry Arnold tells how he was informed by a superior that, "If everyone would turn off CNN, there wouldn't be a threat from Osama bin Laden." General Arnold was, at the time, commander of the Continental U.S. North American Air Defense Command and the statement was made two weeks before 9/11. On September 7, 2001, the Secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the USAF decided to cut off funding for air defense. On 9/11, there were only 14 jet fighters available in the entire U.S. to be scrambled for an alert and all air defense units were National Guard, many of whose pilots were also airline pilots.

In spite of this critical weakness, by two hours after the first airliner hit the World Trade Center, there was a combat air patrol over Washington. They were there in time to stop United 93, had that been necessary. The rapid response by Air Force, Air National Guard and FAA personnel, often using telephones to relay information between incompatible communication systems, was totally improvised by the people involved. This story has not been told before and it makes a gripping tale.

It was not all locking the barn door after the horse was gone, either. In one of her accounts, the pilot of a grounded United Airlines flight is informed by his senior flight attendant that four young Arab men are seated in first class. The flight is evacuated and the four men disappear. Later, FBI agents find box cutters and al Qeada material in their abandoned luggage. My brother-in-law works for United Airlines and tells me that he has been told that as many as 11 flights had potential hijackers aboard that day and the rapid grounding of flights may have prevented other hijackings.

The author is an airline pilot and she has interviewed hundreds of people involved in the story. She deprecates her own writing skills but the book reads like a Tom Clancy novel. The most important fact here is that her story is true. I recommend it.

I have read quite a few books on 9/11 including the official Commision Report and no where else is there such an in-depth book on what was really going on in the skies and thru out the country at ATC and our nations air bases. I think we can be very proud of not only the pilots and air crews of all the flights in the air that day,but also all the air traffic controllers, and military and national guard personnel that carried the day. On the other hand, the top level of the FAA and our government appear to not have had much of a clue what was taking place during the morning hours but fortunately we have many capable people in the actual decison making process that took the initiative to do what needed to be done to protect the country as much as possible, while the higher ups were still twiddling their thumbs.....don't miss this book!

Lynn Spencer's "Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11" is an engrossing, compelling book about a tremendously complex event. Based upon numerous first-hand accounts and interviews, "Touching History" covers in great detail the entire breadth of 9/11 in the air: the air traffic control system, the airports, the airplanes in the sky, the air defense jets scrambled to respond to an unprecendented event.

Spencer herself is a commercial pilot and flight instructor, so she brings a particular sensitivity and understanding to a complex subject, and she tells the story superbly well. Along the way she addresses a number of misconceptions about what happened, and did not happen, that day. The depth of detail is extraordinary, rendering an unusually vivid picture of events. "Touching History" is filled not with cold, hard facts, but with moments of great human drama. In the end, I was left with a strong feeling of admiration for those men and women -- pilots, air crew, air controllers, National Guard pilots -- who acted so swiftly to bring manageable order out of extreme chaos

I heard Ms. Spencer interviewed on NPR and thought the book would interesting. Last night I decided to read few pages before bed. I finished the book at 4:00am. Ms. Spencer has put together a concise account of what was happening in all areas of flight on September 11 with clarity and compassion. She is able to convey the feelings of disbelief, frustration, horror, fear, and bravery that the events of the day brought forth. She does this without an agenda or bias.
Great Book!

Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down until I finished it. The research that must have gone into this is astounding, and the result is a flawless and riveting description of what took place behind the scenes as this tragedy unfolded. It reminds us that even in the face of unspeakable evil, Americans have the pride, bravery and composure to fight for our country and our people. Bravo - and thank you -to all those pilots, air traffic controllers and military personnel who acted quickly and decisively to avert what could have been an even bigger disaster. Thank you Ms. Spencer for allowing us a glimpse into the activities of these unsung heroes.

This is one of those rare books that are non-fiction, but pull you in like a great novel- just like you were there! The author, Lynn Spencer has done a superlative job of putting together the facts in a way that even though we know the eventual outcome we still want to read all the way to the end.
When I first began reading, I thought the story would center on the four hijacked flights- but those stories have already been largely told. Rather, she tells the "big picture" of how those four incidents touched off an incredible series of events that affected tens of thousands of people that day and how individuals in extremely tense and difficult circumstances made the decisions that kept a very bad situation from becoming catastrophic.
It can be seen in retrospect that our air traffic control system had many faults in dealing with this crisis, but it was the individuals involved that rose above the technical difficulties and "standard operating procedures" to make our skies safe that awful day.
This is their story and we all owe a debt of gratitude to them for what they accomplished- all of the air controllers, civilian and military, leadership on the ground and of course all of the many, many pilots and aircrew who had to deal with something completely extraordinary.
This book brought it all back and made me feel many of the same emotions I felt on 9/11.
Personally, I feel we all need to remember what took place that day so that it will NEVER happen again.

Just after 9/11 there was a feeling that the tragedy was to close to us to get a grip on it and few books were published detailing what happaned and tragedy and bravery that took place. With the publication of Let's Roll!: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage and the release of United 93 (Widescreen Edition) there began finally to be an outpouring of stories from the events. But the Iraq War and the self-hate of books like Blowback, Second Edition: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire obscured 9/11 and there were attempts to make people forget. With the publication of this timely and important book we are finally treated to one piece of the history of that day.

Here is the story of what took place in the skies above and on the ground as Air Traffic Control and the Air force and pilots and passengers experiences that day. This is an amazing and wonderful minute by minute account of the people, sounds and terrors that took place, a true portrait of America at her best, showing all the small heroes who made up that day. A very important contribution and one that will stand the test of time.

Seth J. Frantzman

To understand what happened on September 11, 2001 you must read this book.

This superb book, written by a pilot, ties together all the different government responses to September 11 into a very interesting and readable book.

The book sheds new light on the numerous unprecedented actions taken that day by many different agencies and pilots.

Touching History begins the morning of September 11, 2001 with air traffic control sensing that something is wrong. The book tells how the FAA, NORAD, Air National Guard, Air Force, Department of Transportation, Secret Service, White House, Department of Defense and the pilots handled and responded to the events of September 11.

You will understand the thoughts and emotions of ground controllers, administrators, military pilots and commercial pilots as they respond to the surprising and confusing events of 9/11.

The book examines the mindset of those on the ground and those in the air and provides a broad overview of how the major players responded that day.

There were air traffic controllers preventing mid air collisions, airline pilots trying to land at evacuating airports, fighter pilots rushing to battle, agencies trying to communicate with one another and local commanders trying to set up protective zones over New York City and Washington D.C.

Tough decisions about which fighter jets to send up and with which weapons and their orders are discussed in depth.

Touching History will provide an exhaustive in depth understanding of the events of September 11. Other than listening to the released NORAD tapes, which is recommended, this is a definitive book of events that day.

While some Generals say that the 9/11 report has a political agenda, this book gives a better historical and accurate look at who made what decisions and what their thought processes were.

Mere words cannot begin to describe the gripping reality that Ms. Spencer captured in this book. From the cockpits of jet fighters, to the flight deck of the airliners, to those who tried to make sense of it all from behind radar screens, Ms. Spencer captured the anxiety, frustration, complexity, and at times, feeling of helplessness of all those who tried desperately to protect this country. This isn't a book so much about the what happened nearly as much as it is about those whose blood, sweat and tears went into their attempts to stop it and then come to grips with it. Having spent over 3 years of her life dedicated to this project, Ms. Spencer went to the people and listened to their stories, heard the quiver in their voices and saw the pain in their eyes as they spoke. This book takes you there. It puts you on the "inside" to see first hand what was happening and allows you to witness the many obstacles that had to somehow be overcome to fight against a never before seen enemy using a never before heard of tactic against American civilians, on American soil. I can tell you that Ms. Spencer got it right and tells it in a manner anyone can understand and appreciate. She captured the heart and soul of everyone involved.

For many of us in the military that struggled that day to help put an end to the aviation madness that took place, had stories and wanted them told. We didn't want recognition or reward, we simply wanted the American public to know what happened behind the closed gates of our bases, how hard we all tried to stop what was going on, and above all else, to not let it happen again. Lynn Spencer had a vision that our stories had value and must be shared. No one else out there was listening to us, asking the difficult questions about how we felt, or gathered the true facts the 9/11 Commission missed or ignored. She knew she had one shot to get this right...and she sure did. There is no other book like this and dare say, never will be. Every American should read this!

Touching History is the fast-paced and riveting story of what was happening in the skies on 9/11--a story that up to now has never been told. Lynn Spencer takes us into into the military and FAA control centers and into the cockpits of commercial airliners and military jets that day as everyone struggles to first understand what is happening and then what to do about it. The story is not as much about technology or military jargon as much as the human element. It weaves tales of heroism and bravery while also doing a great job of capturing the confusion in the skies that fateful day. Be forewarned--this book is hard to put down once started!