Jim Dwyer (1) (1957–2020)

This book tells the stories of the people who were inside the towers on 9-11. It's a raw record of the day and what people saw, did and experienced.

Certain details in this book have lingered over the years. For example some firefighters actually reached the fire that was raging on the upper stories. One elevator remained operational in the south tower after the second plane crashed into it; and that elevator took a few firefighters up to the 40th floor. Battalion Chief Orio J. Palmer climbed another 38 floors to the impact zone, arriving at the lobby on the 78th floor by 9:51 a.m. Their tower collapsed eight minute later.

A large crowd of firefighters, some of them suffering from chest pains and the like under loads of 60 pounds or more, were still resting on the 19th floor of the north tower as the last of the interviewed survivors came down.

While reading "102 Minutes," I recalled two books especially: John Hersey's "Hiroshima," which reconstructs that bombing from interviews with six survivors; and Walter Lord's "A Night To Remember," the definitive account of Titanic's sinking. There are many more similarities with Lord's account -- particularly the attempt, by a non-participant, to keep an eye on hundreds of personal stories.… (plus d'informations)