Morganne Rhine Tim Timmons
US History II
11/27/12

The Oklahoma City Bombing
This is a review of the book entitled Terrorist Attacks: The Oklahoma City Bombing by Geraldine Giordano. The author’s purpose is to inform the reader about the life of Timothy McVeigh, convicted bomber, the destructive plan, the actual bombing, the investigation of the case, and the aftermath. Giordano hooks the reader by implementing a very dramatic introduction of the events of that morning. “It was a day no one would soon forget” (Giordano 5). The first chapter is devoted to the life of Timothy McVeigh, his biographical information, and additional facts of interest to the reader, such as McVeigh and a friend bought 10 acres of land in New York and told their parents that they wanted to use the land for hunting. In reality, they planned to use the land as a survivalists’ bunker. It was surprising to learn that McVeigh wanted to be a Green Beret but failed the required psychiatric test. Chapter two is devoted to the alliance between McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and Michael Fortier. The author suggests that the Ruby Ridge incident and the Waco incident concerning the Branch Davidians were turning points for McVeigh. The author argues that the Murrah Building was targeted for several reasons. The first reason being that McVeigh knew the building contained several government offices and agencies. According to her, McVeigh believed that he could retaliate against those who were responsible for the Waco incident. Another reason was the way the building was constructed and its shape. It was made of glass and U shaped, which would contribute to increased devastation. At this point Giordano plays upon the emotions of the reader by printing a photograph of the staff and children of the daycare center in the Murrah Building that was taken just one week before the building was bombed. The author states that “McVeigh wasn’t concerned about the people within the building. In fact, he believed that they should perish” (Giordano 21).
Chapter three reveals the destructive plan and details the countdown to destruction. Chapter four focuses on the bombing itself. The author includes pictures that bring the event to life for the reader. Her words and mental imagery allow the reader to feel as if he or she is actually there. Giordano’s description of the excavation of the daycare center was personally heart wrenching. “It was believed that the children had been eating their breakfast when the explosion occurred. Rescue workers found broken toys among the concrete” (Giordano 36). Nineteen children died that day. The final chapters reveal how Timothy McVeigh was eventually arrested and brought to trial. McVeigh’s defense attempted to make the jury believe there was a third party involved. They tried to introduce as evidence the presence of a single human leg found at the crime scene. Apparently, McVeigh’s attorney wanted the jury to believe that the person belonging to the leg could have been responsible for the crime. However, once a DNA test was performed, the leg was found to belong to an employee in the Murrah Building. On June 2nd, 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted on all eleven counts of murder in the Oklahoma City bombing. Two weeks later he was condemned to die by lethal injection. Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison and Michael Fortier was sentenced to twelve years in prison and was fined 200,000 dollars for failing to warn authorities of the bombing. Throughout the book, the author did an outstanding job of laying the groundwork and providing the events that took place prior to that fateful day. She offered insights into the childhood of Timothy McVeigh. Some of the red flags that the author revealed in the book about McVeigh was that when he “was about 14, he told his friends that he was a survivalist” (Giordano 8). He became convinced that there would be an attack on the United States and he rented a storage locker and filled it with food, water, and many guns. Some of these could have possibly been stolen from the US Army. The author succeeds in stating the facts and portraying Timothy McVeigh as a troubled youth and anti-governmental radical. It is easy for the reader to believe, although not understand, that McVeigh could carry out such a diabolical plan. Further studies reveal that this author is right on target compared to other author's short publications of the Oklahoma City bombing. One such article for comparison is in Time magazine’s April 19, 2002 edition, titled The Oklahoma City Bombing Remembered. In general, the author did a good job of remaining unbiased. However, her emotions and sentiments managed to seep through within the pages of the book. Giordano used many pictures that depicted horror throughout that fateful day. I believe her words were carefully chosen in order to enable the reader to continually ask themselves THE question that can never be answered…Why would this happen? Overall, I would recommend this book to readers who would like to learn the facts and background of the events of the Oklahoma City Bombing.

Works Cited
Giordano,Geraldine. Terrorist Attacks: The Oklahoma City Bombing. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. Print.