The World Trade Center: A Tribute

It's been over seven months now since we all witnessed the senseless tragedy of the attack on the WTC. For the longest time, I have been able to look at photographs of ground zero. It just makes my stomach turn.I have never been to New York City and my knowledge about the Twin Towers was limited to what was reported on during the 9/11 event.This book is excellent for those who wish to understand the full history behind the towers - beginning in the 1800's with the settling of the area of Manhattan all the way through the end - when the towers were attacked. I felt like giving some history to the buildings and the area where it was located added something that I was missing during the entire media coverage.The photographs are beautiful and tasteful.I would highly recommend that you add this book to your collection. It's something that you can look through many years from now and be transported back to significant piece of our American history.

Well Pleased

A great book I have really enjoyed. I am glad you had it.

Great gift for my mom, the genealogist;she gave the first one to a relative, sothis one is her replacement

I think this book is well worth what you pay for. It goes over the history and evolution of the skyscraper, which leads up to the world trade center twin towers. It goes over the 30 years or so that they stood. Finally, it goes over the aftermath of 9/11. If you get the chance to get it, get it. Trust me, it's worth it.

I've surveyed or browsed or reviewed about 20 items relating to the World Trade Center attacks and this is among the top three that I can recommend.It's a "slim volume," to borrow a cliche that book collectors use, but what's inside is an excellent illustrated history of the Twin Towers, supplemented by wonderfully chosen photographs, all laid out in sequential order, leading up to that fateful day in September.Most of the other books in this "category" are truly "tributes," filled with emotionally-laden text and images designed to pull the heart strings. This one, despite being called a "tribute," is in fact, a handy summation of history and pictures that places the Towers in their proper context. You're moved, but you're also getting terrific information about an "icon" that we didn't know was an "icon" until it was destroyed. It's the story about two buildings we took for granted -- criticizing and disliking them -- until they were taken from America forever. Now the ground beneath it is sacred.I'm not knocking the other "tributes," but it seems that a lot of them contain too much or too little -- some have almost zero text, and those with pictures -- are just different views of the same thing.There is a "straight-ahead" style to this book that betrays its title -- yes, it's a "tribute," but it doesn't feel like a "rush to market" item like the others that have been offered in the last month -- just in time, in kind of a dark way, for Hanukkah or Christmas.The other books I can now recommend are: "One Nation," by the editors of Life Magazine -- and "September 11, 2001: A Record of Tragedy, Heroism and Hope," by the editors of New York Magazine. Buy these three books for your PERMANENT library and simply browse through the others at your local bookstore before you buy.

This is easily the best of the WTC tributes out so far since it covers (in words and pictures) not just recent events but the whole history of the WTC (and the adjacent plaza and buildings) from its planning before the 1964 World's Fair through its 7-year construction to the tragedy of 9/11. The pictures don't just capture the obvious Hudson River-view of the Twin Towers but the courtyards, the corridors, the shops, and the observation deck and visitor's center. There is coverage of the 1993 bombing, the 1974 "Human Fly" episode, the late-'70's tightrope walk between the Towers, and, of course, 1976's "King Kong" filming -- everything that made the WTC an essential part of the Big Apple. A nice tribute to a never-to-be-forgotten landmark.

This book is exactly what I was looking for. Before September 11th, I couldn't have told you which buildings made up the World Trade Center. "A Tribute" gives the reader a history of the World Trade Center and the surrounding area, with rich photographs and maps. It's filled with interesting information about what went in to the planning and building of the WTC. The focus is not on 9/11. I recommend this book.