• The Ground Truth

  • The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11
  • By: John Farmer
  • Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
  • Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
The Ground Truth  By  cover art

The Ground Truth

By: John Farmer
Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.62

Buy for $17.62

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

As senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission, John Farmer led the team charged with reconstructing the tragedies of 9/11 and assisted in writing The 9/11 Commission Report. But many of the relevant records remained classified when the report was written, and the "ground truth" of the day was further obscured by the fundamentally false version of events that the government presented to Congress, the commission, and the media.

Now, drawing on records that have only recently been released, Farmer has written a definitive account that captures the full suspense and ultimate tragedy of 9/11 and enlarges---and breathtakingly revises---our understanding. He tells the story in shrinking units of time, plotting the progress of the "planes conspiracy" as the U.S. government had years, then months, then weeks, days, and finally, excruciating minutes and seconds to interdict or disrupt the attacks.

This approach casts key moments in a new and startling light; the frantic efforts of air traffic controllers and fighter pilots to foil the attacks on 9/11 are revealed not as isolated acts of desperation but as the trailing, inevitable consequence of years of policy debates and failed post-Cold War attempts to "reinvent government." And as he leads us through the aftermath of the attacks, Farmer makes the inescapable case that "at some level of the government, at some point in time...there was a decision not to tell the truth about what happened."

What emerges is a portrait of a government that has institutionalized failure and rewarded deception. Executive departments fight for turf then deflect responsibility. Top officials, who set policy, are radically estranged from the career professionals who carry it out. The result has proven, quite literally, catastrophic---in the face of the surprise attacks of 9/11 and, as Farmer explores, in response to a long-anticipated natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina, as well. He shows powerfully that until we undertake the genuine, fro...

©2009 John Farmer (P)2009 Tantor
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about The Ground Truth

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very engaging but timestamps almost ruin it!

Great info and learned new facts about 9/11 but the way they present conversations is almost unlistenable. Instead of saying their conversation takes place between 9 AM and 9:02 AM and then go into the back and forth of the conversation. They precede each persons line with a timestamp instead of a flowing dialogue. It gets very very annoying!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Tell the real truth

He tells the truth about are government but not about what really happened on 911

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful