Oklahoma City

By: Andrew Gumbel, Roger G. Charles

Narrated by: Todd Waring

In the early morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh drove into downtown Oklahoma City in a rented Ryder truck containing a deadly fertilizer bomb that he and his army buddy Terry Nichols had made the previous day. He parked in a handicapped-parking zone, hopped out of the truck, and walked away into a series of alleys and streets. Shortly after 9:00 A.M., the bomb obliterated one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, including 19 infants and toddlers. McVeigh claimed he'd worked only with Nichols, and at least officially, the government believed him. But McVeigh's was just one version of events. And much of it was wrong.

In Oklahoma City, veteran investigative journalists Andrew Gumbel and Roger G. Charles puncture the myth about what happened on that day—one that has persisted in the minds of the American public for nearly two decades. Working with unprecedented access to government documents, a voluminous correspondence with Terry Nichols, and more than 150 interviews with those immediately involved, Gumbel and Charles demonstrate how much was missed beyond the guilt of the two principal defendants: in particular, the dysfunction within the country's law enforcement agencies, which squandered opportunities to penetrate the radical right and prevent the bombing, and the unanswered question of who inspired the plot and who else might have been involved.

To this day, the FBI heralds the Oklahoma City investigation as one of its great triumphs. In reality, though, its handling of the bombing foreshadowed many of the problems that made the country vulnerable to attack again on 9/11. Law enforcement agencies could not see past their own rivalries and underestimated the seriousness of the deadly rhetoric coming from the radical far right. In Oklahoma City, Gumbel and Charles give the fullest, most honest account to date of both the plot and the investigation, drawing a vivid portrait of the unfailingly compelling—driven, eccentric, fractious, funny, and wildly paranoid—characters involved.

tw

idk if it's just me but this story was very dry. there were so many characters and the timeline kept jumping it was very hard to keep straight.

Great, in-depth account.

I became interested in this after listening to the No Way, Jose podcast concerning the OKC bombing. It is also interesting to me because I’m an Okie who was 5 years old when the bombing occurred. Also, I’m a libertarian, who is skeptical of our government’s role in events like this.

Very interesting, very repetitive.

there is a lot of interesting material in this book. I think they could have written the book in about half the words if they didn't repeat the same points over and over again. Maybe they were trying to drive a point home, I'm not sure but I still enjoyed it! Thanks for the interesting read... well listen!

Informative and captivating

Although I thought I was familiar with the story of the Oklahoma City bombing, I now realize that I actually knew very few of the details of this awful event. I thought the naration was very good and appreciated that the story didn't get bogged down with overly detailed facts/information that might not work well in an audio book.

Listening to it was time well spent.

Thorough, insightful

“All you need to know”? Maybe so. Relevant to the rise of domestic terrorism we see today? Definitely. The authors thoroughly outline the gripes, the motivations for McVeigh/Nichols and their ilk. The reader easily infers how the same still exist if not 1000 fold. Without going “all conspiracy theory” they present circumstantial evidence that the convicted bombers did not act alone and how entire communities that foment such violence existed then as today. Another familiar name present is that of Merrick Garland. Understating this and the failures of Waco, Ruby Ridge will allow the reader greater insight to the danger our country faces from within today.