500 Days: Decisions And Deceptions In The Shadow Of 9/11 (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
I listened to this on tape and it took me across the great states of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and ND. It's long. It's very good. I learned a lot about the internal machinations of the post 9/11 moments. I always wondered about Tony Blair and this makes his story more clear.There were some startling things for me -- not the least of which was the bumbling nature of things at Gitmo (unprepared interrogators and the incredible fight over tactics between CIA and FBI). It was valuable to get inside the complexity of the thing -- the overall stage was set but how each person reacted to it was real interesting and important.Of course, the entire story is one that leaves me incredibly frustrated. Complex times, big threats, but still the need for leaders to ask for the best out of people rather than the most efficient or the most simple. I'm not a fan of Kurt Eichenwald as a writer. The three star review is more about the writing style than the content. This book is primarily composed of very small segments, often less than one page. Combined with jumping from topic to topic and a rather large cast of characters and names to remember, it makes for a rather disjointed read.Writing style aside, the book is a good source of information and provided a lot of behind the scenes information on events that I remember. I thought those events were ridiculous as I watched them unfold and it turns out that they were more so than I realized.
What do You think about 500 Days: Decisions And Deceptions In The Shadow Of 9/11 (2012)?
the only reason this is not getting 5 stars is because i wanted more of it.
—bellagraves
This will make you mad at Bush and friends, all over again.
—Gnome
All i can say is amazing--completely amazing.
—jenny309
