The Only Plane in the Sky

"Incredibly evocative and compelling." - The Washington Post<BR><BR>"The most moving and chilling oral history you will read." - The Times<BR><BR>"Astonishing book about an astonishing, terrifying atrocity, relived in real time by those who were there. I read it in one sitting & was utterly gripped from start to finish." - Piers Morgan<BR><BR>"The most vivid portrait of 9/11 I've ever read."- Mike Morell, former deputy director of the CIA<BR><BR>** Updated 20th Anniversary edition with additional content **<BR><BR>The Only Plane in the Sky is the first comprehensive oral history of 9/11, deftly woven and told in the voices of ordinary people grappling with extraordinary events.<BR><BR>It begins predawn, where we meet airport staff who unknowingly usher terrorists onto their flights. From a secret bunker beneath the White House, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice watch for incoming planes on radar. At the Pentagon, officials feel a violent tremor as they come under attack. <BR><BR>We hear the stories of the father and son working on separate floors in the North Tower; the firefighter who rushes there to search for his wife; the phone operator who keeps her promise to share a passenger's last words with his family; the chaplain who stays on the scene to perform last rites, losing his own life when the Twin Towers collapse.<BR><BR>In New York, first responders confront a scene of unimaginable chaos. At the Pentagon generals break down and weep when they are barred from rushing into the burning building to try and rescue their colleagues.<BR><BR>Drawing on never-before-published transcripts, declassified documents and interviews from nearly five hundred people, award-winning historian Garrett Graff skilfully tells the story of the day that changed all of our lives - as it was lived.<BR><BR>The Only Plane in the Sky is a unique, profound, and searing exploration of humanity on a day that changed the course of history, and all of our lives, 20 years ago.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Absolutely gripping.” —The Washington Post • “A masterpiece of oral history…stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving, and always riveting.” —Evan Thomas<BR> <BR>From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Watergate comes the most complete and up-to-date account of D-Day—the largest seaborne invasion in history and the moment that secured the Allied victory in World War II—featuring hundreds of eyewitness accounts.<BR><BR>June 6, 1944—known to us all as D-Day—is one of history’s greatest and most unbelievable military triumphs. The surprise sunrise landing of more than 150,000 Allied troops on the beaches of occupied northern France is one of the most consequential days of the 20th century. Now, Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff, historian and author of The Only Plane in the Sky and Watergate, brings them all together in a one-of-a-kind, bestselling oral history that explores this seminal event in vivid, heart-pounding detail.<BR> <BR>The story begins in the opening months of the 1940s, as the Germany army tightens its grip across Europe, seizing control of entire nations. The United States, who has resolved to remain neutral, is forced to enter the conflict after an unexpected attack by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. For the second time in fifty years, the world is at war, with the stakes higher than they’ve ever been before. Then in 1943, Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Casablanca to discuss a new plan for victory: a coordinated invasion of occupied France, led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Failure is not an option. Over the next eighteen months, the large-scale action is organized, mobilizing soldiers across Europe by land, sea, and sky. And when the day comes, it is unlike anything the world has ever seen.<BR> <BR>These moments and more are seen in real time. A visceral, page-turning drama told through the eyes of those who experienced them—from soldiers, nurses, pilots, children, neighbors, sailors, politicians, volunteers, photographers, reporters and so many more, When the Sea Came Alive “is the sort of book that is smart, inspiring, and powerful—and adds so much to our knowledge of what that day was like and its historic importance forever” (Chris Bohjalian)—an unforgettable, fitting tribute to the men and women of the Greatest Generation.

Kein Tag hat sich stärker ins kollektive Gedächtnis gebrannt. Die Bilder, die Geschichten, die Konsequenzen. Doch die Worte derer, die den 11. September tatsächlich erlebt haben, fehlten fast zwanzig Jahre lang. Garrett M. Graff hat diese Worte gefunden, er hat alle Dokumente, alle Interviews zusammengetragen, hat die Stimmen der Einsatzkräfte, der Zeugen, der Überlebenden versammelt und daraus eine überwältigende Erzählung kompiliert - vielstimmig, erfahrungsecht, im O-Ton.Und auf einmal diese Stille ist das herzzerreißende Logbuch eines historischen Tages und ein monumentales Zeugnis von Hoffnung und Menschlichkeit in der Dunkelheit.

<BR>NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER<BR><BR><BR>THE 'MASTERPIECE' COMPLETE ORAL HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB - BY A PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST<BR><BR>'Magisterial...A stunning account that brings to the fore the nuclear saga's surreal combination of ingenuity, fate, and terror.' -Publishers Weekly (starred review)<BR><BR>'If you are an intelligent person, or at the very least think you are, you have to read The Devil Reached Toward the Sky...This period in history has never been more relevant and frightening than it is today.' -James Patterson <BR><BR>'Comprehensive and engrossing...Excellent oral history.' -Kirkus Reviews<BR><BR>From the New York Times bestselling author of When the Sea Came Alive and The Only Plane in the Sky, a sweeping and comprehensive oral history of the atomic bomb's creation and deployment, marking the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<BR><BR>April 12, 1945. Less than three months into his vice presidency, Harry Truman is catapulted into the Oval Office following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As he recites the oath, he learns a chilling secret known only to a select few: the United States is on the verge of deploying a weapon of unimaginable power. This weapon could end the war but also herald a new age of global fear and uncertainty.<BR><BR>Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the US, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers, Enola Gay and Bock's Car, the rescuers who bravely faced the destruction, and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including the experiences of the hibakusha - the 'bomb-affected people'.<BR><BR>Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, offering a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world forever.<BR><BR>*New York Times #7 on the Hardcover Non-Fiction Chart, week of August 25th, 2025.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST - THE 'MASTERPIECE' DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB<BR><BR>'A comprehensive account... focuses not just on the voices of scientists [but] explores overlooked pieces of the Manhattan Project's history.' -Daily Mail<BR><BR> 'This period in history has never been more relevant and frightening than it is today... A masterpiece.'-James Patterson <BR><BR>"Comprehensive and engrossing...Excellent oral history."-Kirkus Reviews<BR>***<BR><BR>From the international bestselling author of The Only Plane in the Sky, a sweeping oral history of the atomic bomb's creation and deployment<BR><BR>April 12, 1945. Less than three months into his vice presidency, Harry Truman is catapulted into the Oval Office following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As he recites the oath, he learns a chilling secret known only to a select few: the United States is on the verge of deploying a weapon of unimaginable power. This weapon could end the war but also herald a new age of global fear and uncertainty.<BR><BR>Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the US, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers, Enola Gay and Bock's Car, the rescuers who bravely faced the destruction, and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including the experiences of the hibakusha - the 'bomb-affected people'.<BR><BR>Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, offering a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world forever.

Zwanzig Jahre danach verewigt dieses Buch die folgenreichsten Stunden unserer jüngsten Geschichte. Und auf einmal diese Stille ist das herzzerreißende Logbuch eines historischen Tages und ein monumentales Zeugnis von Hoffnung und Menschlichkeit in der Dunkelheit.Kein Tag hat sich stärker ins kollektive Gedächtnis gebrannt. Die Bilder, die Geschichten, die Konsequenzen. Doch die Worte derer, die den 11. September tatsächlich erlebt haben, fehlten zwanzig Jahre lang. Garrett M. Graff hat diese Worte gefunden, er hat alle Dokumente, alle Interviews zusammengetragen, hat die Stimmen der Einsatzkräfte, der Zeugen, der Überlebenden versammelt und daraus eine überwältigende Erzählung kompiliert.