Report from Ground Zero by Dennis Smith (2002, Hardcover, Illustrated)

Book Summary

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 forever altered the American landscape, both figuratively and literally. Immediately after the jets struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, Dennis Smith, a former firefighter, reported to Manhattan's Ladder Co. 16 to volunteer in the rescue efforts. In the weeks that followed, Smith was present on the front lines, attending the wounded, sifting through the wreckage, and mourning with New York's devastated fire and police departments.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of the book will be contributed by the author and publisher to the Foundation for American Firefighters.

Mr. Smith has captured the horror and chaos of those first terrifying hours, and the ensuing anger and grief and determination. He has also captured the courage of New York city's firefighters and the spirit of the city's firehouses, bloody but unbowed in the wake of that terrible September morning.

... and a tremendously powerful chronicle of September 11th. The language of the firefighters and police officers is blunt and vivid, the details are sharply etched, and the fractured stories -- particularly of those who were inside the towers but somehow escaped -- offer a Cubist vision of the day's chaos.