It's the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, so here are the best books, films, and podcasts to educate yourself on the atrocity and its impact on the world
For many of us, the events which took place on 9/11 are one of our earliest memories. For those who remember life before the attacks, the magnitude of the shock was such that they can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.
On Tuesday, 11 September 2001, terrorists hijacked four US passenger jets, flying into two skyscrapers in New York, known as the 'Twin Towers' or the World Trade Center. Another plane hit the Pentagon – the headquarters of the US military base – in Washington D.C., and another plane, which was believed to be heading for the Capitol, landed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers.
The atrocities are ingrained in the international psyche for a myriad of traumatic reasons. Nearly 3000 people – including approximately 412 emergency first responders – died in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. In 2018, a study reported that 10,000 people in the vicinity of the World Trade Center at the time of the attacks have since been diagnosed with cancer – and over 2,000 deaths have been attributed to illnesses indirectly resulting from 9/11, such as toxic exposure.
As well as the insurmountable loss of life, 9/11 violently impacted international politics and policy. The attack was carried out by terrorists from the extremist group called al-Qaeda, of which Osama Bin Laden was the leader. Less than a month after the attacks, President George Bush – with international backing (including from the UK) declared war in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as part of the "War on Terror," with airstrikes and the deployment of troops. The painful ramifications of this decision are still unfolding today, evidenced by the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and UK troops.
The Watson Institute For International And Public Affairs estimates that "241,000 people have been killed in the Afghanistan and Pakistan war zone since 2001," adding that "More than 71,000 of those killed have been civilians." The institute also estimates that 7000 US troops have died in the post-9/11 war zones of Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The wars have also resulted in swathes of displacement, often causing citizens to go to extreme lengths to seek refuge.
The repercussions of 9/11 have included an onslaught of Islamophobia, in which an entire religion of people has wrongly been held responsible for the actions of individual terrorists. After 9/11, hate crimes against Muslims increased dramatically, jumping from 28 to 481 incidents in a year. Islamophobia continues to affect Muslims in the US and UK: one report showed that when being taught about 9/11, Muslim students are still subject to ridicule and blamed for the attacks.
The misinformation surrounding 9/11 reminds us of the importance of doing our research and listening to the voices of marginalised people. Educating ourselves is a vital step towards remembering and honouring the lives lost in 9/11 and in the aftermath of the attacks.
Here, we've collated some of the best books, podcasts, films and TV shows to get you started:
Read:
The 9/11 Commission Report by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
Published in 2004, this is the official report on the events leading to the attacks on 11 September 2001, as reported by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The Commission was set up in 2002 to identify the key events leading up to the attacks, and to safeguard against it happening again.
Read:
The Submission by Amy Waldman
Waldman's debut novel explores grief within America's rapidly changing national identity following the 9/11 attacks. Set 10 years after 9/11, the novel poses the question: what would happen if a Muslim was blindly selected to design the World Trade Center memorial?
Read:
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
This book won the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction in 2007 for its "sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11." It's been described as a "groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America."
Read:
No Day Shall Erase You: The Story of 9/11 as Told at the September 11 Museum
This book recalls the events of 9/11 through photographs and essays as a companion to the tour at the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York.
Read:
Poetry After 9/11: An Anthology of New York Poets
This anthology contains 45 poems written in New York in the year immediately following the 9/11 attacks. It was inspired by the editor, Dennis Loy Johnson's, observation that "New Yorkers spontaneously turned to poetry to understand and cope with the tragedy of the attack."
Read:
Home Boy by HM Naqvi
This novel follows Chuck, aka Shehzad, a New Yorker who was born in Pakistan, as his city changes before his eyes following 9/11. It won the DSC prize for South Asian Literature in 2011.
Read:
The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama bin Laden by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan
This book poses uncomfortable yet necessary questions about the US government's narrative surrounding 9/11. It probes the official 9/11 Commission Report, and questions the government's "flawed" response to the attacks.
Read:
We Are All Suspects Now: Untold Stories from Immigrant Communities after 9/11 by Tram Nguyen
This book explores the impact that post 9/11 policies – specifically those regarding nationality, immigration, religion, and deportation – had on immigrant communities in the US.
Read:
What Is Life Worth?: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11 by Kenneth R. Feinburg
The inspiration for Netflix's new film 'Worth', this book tells the author's true story of how he was tasked with administrating the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund following the attacks. He spent three years meeting with bereaved families in an attempt to offer some financial compensation to grieving families. The fund was initially criticised as a cynical project to protect airlines from lawsuits of thousands of bereaved citizens.
Read:
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
In a fictional café in Pakistan, Changez – the novel's narrator – tells a stranger the story of how he graduated from Princeton University before pursuing a career in New York. His world unravels overnight following the 9/11 attacks, and he falls victim to discrimination and prejudice due to the colour of his skin. He struggles to retain his national identity; feeling out of place in Pakistan and America as he uncovers more about each nation's history.
Read:
Dune Song by Anissa M. Bouziane
This novel explores how to continue living after witnessing an atrocity. It follows Jeehan Nathaar who returns to Morocco after watching the World Trade Center collapse. With her notions of the 'American Dream' destroyed, she struggles to process the trauma of 9/11.
Read:
Last Man Down: The Fireman's Story: The Heroic Account of How Pitch Picciotto Survived the Collapse of the Twin Towers by Richard 'Pitch' Picciotto
On 11 September 2001, Richard Picciotto was the highest ranking fire department commander in the World Trade Center when the North Tower collapsed. This is his – truly heroic – account of how he managed to escape and lead his fighters back to safety.
Read:
Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid
Given the Taliban's 2021 takeover of Afghanistan, this book is more urgent than ever. It forensically examines American policies and interventions, which constituted the "War on Terror," to explain the Tailban's resurgence.
Read:
Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Steve Coll
This book examines American intervention in Afghanistan's political affairs from 2001 to 2016, highlighting how 'Directorate S' – a "highly secretive arm of the Pakistani State' – influenced the US invasion.
Read:
How to Be a Muslim: An American Story by Haroon Moghul
After 9/11, Haroon Moghul became an undergraduate leader at New York University’s Islamic Center, enabling him to appear on TV shows to discuss his American Muslim identity. However, behind the scenes he struggled to reconcile his religion with American culture. This book is an exploration of his story and will resonate with many who are grappling with their faith.
Read:
Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age by Amani al-Khatahtbeh
Written by the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Muslim Girl , this book is an eye-opening account of what it means to be a young, Muslim woman in a post-9/11 society.
- Netflix
Watch:
Turning Point: 9/11 And The War On Terror, 2021
This five-part docuseries, directed by Brian Knappenberger, explores the ramifications of 9/11 in modern history. Highlighting it's ongoing relevance, Brian said, "On the first anniversary of 9/11, I was in Afghanistan filming…When I arrived in Kabul, the Taliban had been driven out and the mood was optimistic [...] Twenty years after 9/11, the world is witnessing the shocking images of people clinging to the bottom of airplanes in a desperate attempt to leave the country."
- National Geographic
Watch:
9/11: One Day in America, National Geographic, 2021
Daniel Bogado, the director of this documentary, told National Geographic, that he receiving a phone call from a friend on 9/11: "He said, turn on your TV, it's the end of the world.”
This archive-led documentary attempts to reconstruct the terror attack in real time, so, rather than showing the planes crashing from multiple different angles, you only see one angle, which has been carefully chosen. Daniel explains, "The terrorists knew that if they burned those buildings in that horrific way, it would be shown all around the world, that’s what they were looking for." This is partly the reason why in his documentary, "When you see the plane hit, you only see it once. The second you change the angle, you’re stepping back in time – and that doesn’t happen in real life."
- Optimum Home Entertainment
Watch:
Fahrenheit 9/11, 2014
Michael Moore's documentary takes an openly critical approach to George Bush and the American's government's actions before and after the September attacks. It generated immense controversy on release – in part due to its criticism of the America and the UK's invasion of Iraq.
- BBC
Watch:
9/11: Inside the President’s War Room, 2021
This documentary focuses on the 12 hours of 11 September 2001, from President George Bush being informed "America is under attack" while visiting a school in Florida, to his now legendary "I can hear you" speech at Ground Zero in New York. It includes insight from former Vice President Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and many more senior governmental figures who helped make the crucial decisions that directed the course of history.
- MagnifyMedia
Watch:
The Outsider, 2021
This documentary focuses on the creation of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, which opened in 2014. The museum contains a powerful display of 2,900 portrait photographs of the victims of 9/11. An emotional but necessary watch. and insight into how we choose to remember those we've lost too soon.
- Netflix
Watch:
Worth, 2021
The film, starring Michael Keaton, Amy Ryan, and Stanley Tucci. based on Kenneth R. Feinburg's book 'What Is Life Worth?: The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11.' Netflix's official synopsis reads, " In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, a lawyer faces an emotional reckoning as he attempts to put a dollar value on the lives lost."
- 9/11 Memorial and Museum
Listen:
Our City. Our Story
This podcast profiles "engaging New York personalities, from the everyday to the very well-known, examining the place that 9/11 has taken in the greater context of their lives. Through these stories we see how New Yorkers, and the city itself, responded, coped and persevered."
- Amazon
Listen:
9/12
This podcast explores how the two decades after 9/11 changed the lives of different individuals, with moving results. The show's host Dan Taberski said in a statement, “Twenty years later, it’s not the day that we need to ‘never forget. It’s how we reacted afterwards, how we let it change us and how it still does. 9/12 is our attempt at figuring out where to put 9/11 now.”
Atsushi NishijimaWatch:
The Report, 2019
Based on real events, this film follows dedicated Senate staff member Daniel J. Jones (played by Adam Driver), who has been instructed to carry out an investigation into the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program, post 9/11.What he and his team discover highlights a shocking abuse of power amid heightened political tensions.
Listen:
Blindspot: The Road To 9/11
Hosted by Jim O'Grady, this podcast “brings to light what happened before the 2001 terrorist attacks — 10 years of botched leads, near misses, and bureaucratic inertia," per its Spotify synopsis.
It features interviews with FBI agents and security experts, as O'Grady explores what led to the events of 9/11.
© 2006 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.Watch:
United 93, 2006
A harrowing watch, this film recounts the real-life events of United Flight 93, one of the planes which was hijacked on 9/11. Using transcripts of audio calls made from the aircraft, the film highlights the emotional turmoil experienced by the passengers and crew, who banded together and plotted to overtake the terrorists.The terrorists were forced to divert from their original plan, instead crashing the plane into an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
