American Ground

Reissued to coincide with the 10-year anniversary, AMERICAN GROUND is a classic of frontline reportage and the definitive first-person account of the aftermath of 9/11. One of the most controversial pieces of 9/11 publishing the book is the result of Langewiesche's nine months in the Dantesque world of Ground Zero. With 'truth, unclouded by sentiment' (NEW YORK TIMES), he documented the lives of the engineers, labourers, rescue workers and city officials as they brought order to a land of chaos, anatomising the physical details of the collapse and revealing the contests of politics and personality that were its aftershock.

Review: 'In cool, precise, powerful prose, Langewiesche tells the hard truths and harsh realities of Ground Zero.' THE TIMES 'the first outstanding literary work to engage with the Manhattan catastrophe ... The result deserves to rank as a classic of frontline reportage. Langewiesche forsakes any sentimentality or sensationalism in favour of painstaking research, shrewd observation, and a darkly resonant prose ... With AMERICAN GROUND, the literature of ruins has acquired a fresh landmark. Without bluster or bragging, it depicts the site as a microcosm of the society the jijackers sought to undermine.' BOYD TONKIN, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY