Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11

“Better and more comprehensive than any prior account. . . . Those of us who lived through those days will find the book cathartic; those rising generations who were too young to remember 9/11, or who weren’t yet born, will find it revelatory.” ― John Farmer, senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission and author of The Ground Truth

“With his rigorous research and moral clarity, Mitchell Zuckoff has provided us with an invaluable service. He has deepened our understanding of what happened on 9/11 and recorded the voices of the victims and the survivors. What’s more, he has ensured that we never forget.” ―David Grann, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon

Years in the making, this spellbinding, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting true story is an unforgettable portrait of 9/11.

This is a 9/11 book like no other. Masterfully weaving together multiple strands of the events in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Fall and Rise is a mesmerizing, minute-by-minute account of that terrible day.

In the days and months after 9/11, Mitchell Zuckoff, then a reporter for the Boston Globe, wrote about the attacks, the victims, and their families. After further years of meticulous reporting, Zuckoff has filled Fall and Rise with voices of the lost and the saved. The result is an utterly gripping work of narrative nonfiction, filled with intimate stories of people most affected by the events of that sunny Tuesday in September: an out-of-work actor stuck in an elevator in the North Tower of the World Trade Center; the heroes aboard Flight 93 deciding to take action; a veteran trapped in the inferno in the Pentagon; the fire chief among the first on the scene in sleepy Shanksville; a team of firefighters racing to save an injured woman and themselves; and the men, women, and children flying across country to see loved ones or for work who suddenly faced terrorists bent on murder.

Fall and Rise will open new avenues of understanding for everyone who thinks they know the story of 9/11, bringing to life―and in some cases, bringing back to life―the extraordinary ordinary people who experienced that defining day in modern American history.

Destined to be a classic, Fall and Rise will move, shock, inspire, and fill hearts with love and admiration for the human spirit as it triumphs in the face of horrifying events.

What happens when ordinary people are faced with unimaginable terror?

• The World Trade Center: Follow an out-of-work actor trapped in a North Tower elevator and the teams of firefighters racing to save lives―and their own.
• The Pentagon: Experience the inferno inside the Pentagon through the eyes of a veteran struggling to escape the wreckage.
• Flight 93: Witness the courageous passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 as they make the ultimate decision to fight back against the terrorists.
• A Minute-by-Minute Account: Based on years of meticulous reporting, this definitive history weaves together the voices of victims, survivors, and first responders into a spellbinding and comprehensive narrative.

Mitchell Zuckoff is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and professor of narrative studies at Boston University. A former Boston Globe Spotlight Team reporter and Pulitzer finalist, he’s the author of nine acclaimed books, including 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi; Lost in Shangri-La; and Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11.