Timothy McVeigh

Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism

by Jeffrey Toobin  · 1 May 2023  · 357pp  · 130,117 words

, “And if you think about what our Declaration of Independence says, it says to overthrow tyrants.” * * * Nineteen days after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Timothy McVeigh was summoned from his cell for his first meeting with his attorney, Stephen Jones. In that initial conversation, McVeigh was only too pleased to take

…

movement, show how McVeigh’s values, views, and tactics have endured and even flourished in the decades since his death. That makes the story of Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing not just a glimpse of the past but also a warning about the future. CHAPTER 1 The Blueprint As the

…

, with 6,800 employees. Three shifts kept the factory busy twenty-four hours a day. One of the new hires that year was Bill McVeigh, Timothy McVeigh’s father. The McVeighs came to western New York from Ireland during the Great Famine, and they were farmers for generations, until Bill’s own

…

. But Terry had already made several failed attempts to leave the gravitational pull of Michigan farm life, and he decided to make one more. Like Timothy McVeigh, in May 1988, Terry Nichols found his way to Fort Benning for basic training. * * * At first, the Army was all that McVeigh hoped. Soon after

…

nomination left the leadership of the Justice Department with a quandary. If Merrick Garland wasn’t going to try the case of United States v. Timothy McVeigh, who would? CHAPTER 17 The Case Against Clutter There was one major loose end before the case could move forward with new prosecutors. At the

…

. It’s not a job. It’s a calling. Not too many people understand that calling or have what it takes. McVeigh apparently did…. The Timothy McVeigh I talked with didn’t seem like a baby killer.” Jones counted the Hackworth story in Newsweek as a success in softening McVeigh’s image

…

prosecutors argued that any prejudice against McVeigh could be cured by a jury instruction from Matsch, but the judge argued that would not be enough. “Timothy McVeigh will be profoundly prejudiced by a joint trial of this case,” Matsch said in his opinion. “His lawyers cannot question Terry Nichols or cross-examine

…

say Terry Nichols said and they cannot control the cross-examination by Terry Nichols or follow up on any suggestions or inferences of guilt of Timothy McVeigh resulting from it.” The prosecutors were shocked—and shattered—by Matsch’s ruling. The reasons were mostly personal. The government’s lawyers had put their

…

trial. The government did receive one piece of good news as 1996 came to an end. Matsch set a trial date for United States v. Timothy McVeigh of March 31, 1997—that is, if McVeigh’s defense team didn’t disintegrate by that point. CHAPTER 24 The Defense Implodes By the beginning

…

does to this day.” Like de Gaulle, Jones persevered. The trial was about to begin. CHAPTER 25 The Government Makes Its Case The trial of Timothy McVeigh took place at a curious, quiescent moment in American history. When Bill Clinton delivered his State of the Union address on February 4, 1997, he

…

just two views of the evidence but a pair of distinct personalities. Joe Hartzler, the lead prosecutor, was linear, orderly, and direct. Stephen Jones, for Timothy McVeigh, was orotund, elliptical, and discursive. This kind of contrast is common in criminal trials where the evidence all favors one side. “Ladies and gentlemen of

…

that they are no longer with us, no longer with their loved ones, is that they were in a building owned by a government that Timothy McVeigh so hated that with premeditated intent and a well-designed plan that he had developed over months and months before the bombing, he chose to

…

killed in the explosion. One was a financial analyst, the other a college student doing an internship. There was no cross-examination. * * * The trial of Timothy McVeigh was unprecedented. It was the largest number of murders ever prosecuted in a single trial. Thanks to the new law passed by Congress, it was

…

acknowledged their previous descriptions of a second man, but said they weren’t sure about it. However, they were sure about John Doe Number 1—Timothy McVeigh. It was still a loose end in the government’s proof, but ultimately a minor one. The most dramatic government witnesses—Mike and Lori Fortier

…

was unlikely to garner sympathy from the jury. Indeed, given the last word, Joe Hartzler for the prosecution turned around the argument about political protest: “Timothy McVeigh bombed the Murrah Building because he was angry about Waco and therefore… what? Therefore what? Where do we go with that argument? What it appears

…

death penalty was brief. They took overnight to think about it and came back on the afternoon of June 13 with a death sentence for Timothy McVeigh. The formal imposition of sentence took place in a brief proceeding on August 14. The occasion was just a formality because, in light of the

…

that an Arab terrorist cell operating in the heart of Oklahoma City funded and operated and backed by Osama bin Laden acted in collusion with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols,” Davis said. Davis wrote a book about her theory, called The Third Terrorist, and the concluding chapter was titled “Nexus: 4–19

…

many troops returned from the Second Gulf War, and the report noted, “After Operation Desert Shield/Storm in 1990–1991, some returning military veterans—including Timothy McVeigh—joined or associated with rightwing extremist groups.” Finally, the growth of the internet was a boon for extremists: “Unlike the earlier period, the advent of

…

agents, Tobin praised suicide bombings, saying “he believed it would be ‘pretty straightforward’ to fill the back of a truck with barrels [of explosives] like Timothy McVeigh did,” the FBI wrote in an affidavit. Timothy Wilson planned to blow up several mosques, a synagogue, and an elementary school with mostly Black students

…

a ‘lone wolf,’ but they are not alone at all.” In 2017, when Donald Trump became president, the wolf pack had a new leader. (4) Timothy McVeigh’s legacy became clearest during Trump’s campaign and presidency. All the trends that McVeigh embodied—the political extremism, the obsession with gun rights, the

…

cleaned up when he became a key witness for the government. © BOB DAEMMRICH The most famous perp walk of the twentieth century: FBI agents lead Timothy McVeigh from the courthouse in Perry, Oklahoma, on April 21, 1995. McVeigh’s stone-faced image left an indelible impression. AP PHOTO/RICK BOWMER Merrick Garland

…

gave a press briefing after representing the government in Timothy McVeigh’s first court appearance. He was ultimately called back to Washington to supervise the floundering investigation of the Unabomber. AP PHOTO/KATHY ROBERTS McVeigh’s

…

of White Resistance to Federal Power (New York: Basic Books, 2022), Chap. 1. The neighbors complained there, too: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 43–48. CHAPTER 2: KINDRED SPIRITS Those charged with more serious crimes: Konstantin Toropin and

…

. Terry Nichols was born: For Nichols’s background, see Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 128–30; Richard A. Serrano, One of Ours: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: W. W. Norton, 1998), pp. 71–74; Serge F

…

_source=newsletter. McVeigh appeared to be a quietly competent soldier: For background on McVeigh’s military service, see Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), Chaps. 3–4; Brandon M. Stickney, All-American Monster: The Unauthorized Biography of

…

Timothy McVeigh (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1996), Chap. 6; Jonathan Franklin, “Timothy McVeigh: Soldier,” Playboy, October 1995. Because Saddam Hussein had a history: Franklin, “Timothy McVeigh: Soldier,” p. 81. “Bad Company” would lead three other Bradleys: See Michel and Herbeck, American

…

medals: Michel and Herbeck, American Terrorist, p. 75. CHAPTER 4: THE TIES FRAY McVeigh was in ragged shape: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 82–86. In the previous year: Robert D. McFadden, “A Life of Solitude and Obsession

…

Bombing Investigation (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2004), pp. 133–37. The peril of big government loomed larger: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 151–52. The Gulfport rumor had an element of truth: Geoff Pender, “End of a

…

, and the Constitution (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2022), Chap. 6. Whenever Clinton appeared on the screen: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), p. 180. “I’ll never see my dad again!”: Lana Padilla with Ron Delpit, By Blood

…

Betrayed: My Life with Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh (New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1995), pp. 10–11. In a Walmart plastic bag: Jon Hersley, Larry Tongate, and Bob Burke, Simple Truths: The Real Story

…

City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2004), pp. 183–85. CHAPTER 10: THE FINAL DAYS “I won’t need any”: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 209–11. CHAPTER 11: THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS AND TYRANTS Rick Wahl, a sergeant: Jon

…

City Bombing Investigation (Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2004), pp. 221–22. “Maybe now, there will be Liberty!”: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 226–28. CHAPTER 12: THE OKLAHOMA STANDARD known to her employees as Mother Goose: Florence

…

City trial will address the largest act of terrorism ever committed on American soil.” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/09/30/the-man-with-timothy-mcveigh. A sign on the grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum states “This is the site of the deadliest act of domestic terrorism the

…

/03/02/972564176/antifa-didnt-storm-the-capitol-just-ask-the-rioters. “Someday when you know what I know”: Richard A. Serrano, One of Ours: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: W. W. Norton, 1998), pp. 253–54. CHAPTER 20: THE FORTIERS FLIP Coulson and Fortier faced off: Danny

…

BRIGHT Tigar always had a romantic: I profiled Tigar for The New Yorker during the McVeigh and Nichols trials. See Jeffrey Toobin, “The Man with Timothy McVeigh,” The New Yorker, Sept. 30, 1996, p. 48, https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1996-09-30/flipbook/048/. United States District Judge Wayne Alley: Richard

…

, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/obituaries/richard-p-matsch-dead.html. “Was it unreasonable to think”: Stephen Jones and Peter Israel, Others Unknown: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy (New York: PublicAffairs, 2001), p. 169. CHAPTER 24: THE DEFENSE IMPLODES the work of J. D. Cash: See Darcy

…

(Norman, OK: Harbinger Associates, 2020), Chap. 17. Reed died in 2006; Sparks died in 2018. “Jones dangled McVeigh”: Randall Coyne, “Collateral Damage in Defense of Timothy McVeigh,” The Cooley Journal of Ethics and Responsibility, 2006, p. 25, http://works.bepress.com/randall_coyne/10/. At the height of the student protests: Jones

…

-war-somewhat-likely. CHAPTER 26: THE CASE FOR THE JURY Oddly enough, McVeigh was also living it up: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Oklahoma City Bombing (New York: Regan Books, 2001), pp. 314, 327. CHAPTER 27: UNCONQUERABLE One courtroom observer compared: Andrew Gumbel and Roger G. Charles

…

Morrow, 2012), pp. 326–27. “He did not complain about his fate”: Gore Vidal, “The Meaning of Timothy McVeigh,” Vanity Fair, September 2001, https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2001/9/gore-vidal-the-meaning-of-timothy-mcveigh. On the day before the execution: Nolan Clay, “Record Documents Bomber’s Last Hours,” The Oklahoman, Jan

…

name), 90 Unabomber, see Kaczynski, Ted United Nations, 33, 58 Michael Fortier’s obsession with, 95–96 United States Holocaust Museum, 359 United States v. Timothy McVeigh, see McVeigh, Timothy, trial of Unite the Right rally (Charlottesville), 22, 363–66 Victim Rights Clarification Act (1997), 291–92 victims’ rights, victims’ rights movement

Age of Anger: A History of the Present

by Pankaj Mishra  · 26 Jan 2017  · 410pp  · 106,931 words

between civilian and military. The easy availability of assault weapons in the United States was always likely to assist the privatization and socialization of violence. Timothy McVeigh’s murder on 19 April 1995 of 168 Americans in Oklahoma City now seems an early clue to the presently exploding netherworld of political rage

…

and ahistorical explanations, largely involving clinical psychology. Thus, politicians and journalists routinely describe the domestic terrorist as a deranged ‘lone wolf’, even when, as with Timothy McVeigh, and many other anti-government militants in the United States, he explicitly articulated a point of view – anti-governmentalism – that mirrors mainstream ideas and ideologies

…

they are not men enough to be damned. T. S. Eliot (1930) The Lone Wolf and His Pack On the morning of 19 April 1995, Timothy McVeigh drove a Ryder rental truck to the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He had already lit two fuses, of

…

world that offers a dream of individual empowerment to all but no realizable dreams of political change, the lure of active nihilism can only grow. Timothy McVeigh with his quintessentially American and First World background illustrates the passage from passive to active nihilism as vividly as men from impoverished postcolonial societies. For

…

: Exploring the Idea of Hindu Nationalism (New Delhi, 2011). 6. Finding True Freedom and Equality On McVeigh, see Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Tragedy at Oklahoma City (New York, 2001). The contradictions in McVeigh’s character have a history, which is brilliantly told in T. J

Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias

by Kevin Cook  · 30 Jan 2023  · 277pp  · 86,352 words

, a young Gulf War veteran joined a T-shirt Hill throng that ranged from several hundred to more than three thousand tourists in a day. Timothy McVeigh, a long-faced twenty-four-year-old with a buzzcut, was selling five-dollar bumper stickers reading, FEAR THE GOVT THAT FEARS YOUR GUN and

…

a hand-lettered sign reading, THEY WILL NOT FIND DAVID’S BONES! HE IS ALIVE! Other followers took up the cause in their own ways. Timothy McVeigh had spent the middle of April at his friend Terry Nichols’s family farm in Michigan, planning a second trip to Waco to support Koresh

…

, that the FBI had “machine-gunned men, women, and children as they tried to exit” the burning compound. What was more, it was “proven” that Timothy McVeigh was not responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing on Waco’s second anniversary. Bill Clinton was. The destruction of the Murrah Federal Building “was an

…

it was right. It was a mistake and I’m responsible. And that’s not one of those you get an A for effort on.” TIMOTHY MCVEIGH was apprehended less than two hours after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, when an Oklahoma state trooper pulled him over for driving without a license

…

siege began. “T-shirt Hill” was the place to find supporters of both sides as well as Waco souvenirs and a former US Army sergeant, Timothy McVeigh (top row center), a Koresh fan. (Associated Press) An aerial view of Mount Carmel during the siege, with the pool and water tower at lower

…

King’s Inside the Cult (New York: Signet, 1993). Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck’s American Terrorist was my go-to reference for material on Timothy McVeigh. Lee Hancock’s important work for the Dallas Morning News and her archived papers would be a boon to any researcher. Most crucial were those

…

in aspects of the scene outside Mount Carmel. The Dallas Morning News described T-shirt Hill in a March 16, 1993, story. A YouTube clip, “Timothy McVeigh at Waco,” shows McVeigh there. Sources, including American Terrorist, track his travels from Waco to Oklahoma City in 1995. 17. SIGNALS AND NOISE Noesner recalled

Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage

by Jeff Guinn  · 24 Jan 2023  · 438pp  · 126,284 words

Mount Carmel to claim the government illegally attacked gun owners acting well within their Second Amendment rights to bear arms. One of these peddlers was Timothy McVeigh, who would soon become infamous in his own right. FBI analyst Farris Rookstool remembers, “I drove out [to Mount Carmel], and saw this guy sitting

…

on the hood of his car. He was selling bumper stickers, T-shirts, items that were very antigovernment. We know it was Timothy McVeigh, because someone from the SMU [Southern Methodist University] school paper took his picture and got his information. Two years later, McVeigh did what he did

…

[End Time]. They’re coming back. While the rest of my friends became Wave Sheaf and translated through fire, I was left behind.” Antigovernment militiaman Timothy McVeigh, watching on television from a farm in Michigan, gaped at the screen and blurted to like-minded friends sitting next to him, “What is this

…

wanted it to be a solemn occasion, but, to be honest, they kind of took over the pulpit.” Two hundred and seventy-three miles away, Timothy McVeigh commemorated the Mount Carmel tragedy’s second anniversary by blowing up a federal building in Oklahoma City. The death toll was 168, including 19 children

…

because of Waco,” Bill McVeigh explained when asked about his son’s deadly actions. “Every time he saw it on TV, he’d go crazy.” Timothy McVeigh himself told reporters, “I didn’t define the rules of engagement in this conflict. The rules, if not written down, are defined by the aggressor

…

the roof collapsed, was left partially intact. (Getty Images) 16 During the siege, numerous protestors joined the crowds surrounding the Mount Carmel siege site, including Timothy McVeigh, perched here on the hood of his car. On April 19, 1995, McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, a lethal indication that

…

, 2nd Session, House Report 106-1037, “The Tragedy at Waco: New Evidence Examined,” Committee on Government Reform (December 28, 2000). Timothy McVeigh, watching on television: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Tragedy at Oklahoma City, p. 161. People began appearing at different places on the roof: Major Case 80—WACMUR

…

Star Publishing House, 1898. Lewis, James R., ed. From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco. Rowman & Littlefield, 1994. Michel, Lou, and Dan Herbeck. American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the Tragedy at Oklahoma City. HarperCollins, 2001. Millner, Lyn. The Allure of Immortality: An American Cult, a Florida Swamp, and a Renegade Prophet. University Press

The America That Reagan Built

by J. David Woodard  · 15 Mar 2006

nitromethane, a highly volatile motor-racing fuel.42 Just ninety minutes after the explosion, an Oklahoma Highway Patrol officer pulled over twenty-seven-year-old Timothy McVeigh for driving without a license plate. Shortly before McVeigh was to be released on the minor offense, he was identified as the bombing suspect by

…

sister, Jennifer, calmly told jurors about her brother’s rage against the government for the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas.43 Timothy McVeigh decided to extract retribution on those he felt responsible— the Murrah Federal Building held numerous federal agency offices, including Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). In

…

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, one of the first brick-and-mortar churches in the city. It too was almost totally destroyed by the blast. Timothy McVeigh was a disgruntled American who wanted revenge on those he resented. He was not alone. On April 3, 1996, a family member gave a tip

Columbine

by Dave Cullen  · 3 Mar 2010  · 519pp  · 142,851 words

controversy nearly ended Attorney General Janet Reno’s career. Waco radicalized the anti-government militia movement, made April 19 into a symbol of perverse authority. Timothy McVeigh sought vengeance by bombing the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. His explosion killed 168 people, the largest terrorist attack in

…

their viciousness and awesome in their destructive power. Such instances of exaggerated violence are constructed events: they are mind-numbing, mesmerizing theater.” The audience—for Timothy McVeigh, Eric Harris, or the Palestine Liberation Organization—was always miles away, watching on TV. Terrorists rarely settle for just shooting; that limits the damage to

…

cornerstone of his plan was the explosives. When all his bombs fizzled, everything about his attack was misread. He didn’t just fail to top Timothy McVeigh’s record—he wasn’t even recognized for trying. He was never categorized with his peer group. We lumped him in with the pathetic loners

The Science of Fear: How the Culture of Fear Manipulates Your Brain

by Daniel Gardner  · 23 Jun 2009  · 542pp  · 132,010 words

for some time, but a decade ago it was quite different. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing made terrorism the story of men like the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, a white, paranoid, antigovernment radical. Following that storyline, journalists churned out countless articles about tiny groups of cranky gun enthusiasts who grandly styled themselves “militias

…

. He was a disturbed white guy with a thing for explosives whose initial plan was apparently to detonate a bomb identical to that used by Timothy McVeigh. If he had carried out his attack at the University of Oklahoma in the late 1990s, it would have been major news around the world

…

. And yet Aum’s seventeen attacks with chemical or biological weapons took far fewer lives than the 168 people who died in Oklahoma City when Timothy McVeigh detonated a single bomb made of fertilizer and motor-racing fuel. “Aum’s experience suggests—however counter-intuitively or contrary to popular belief—the significant

…

legal artifact, which helps explain why many “weapons of mass destruction” are not massively destructive and many weapons that don’t qualify as WMDs are. Timothy McVeigh tore an office building in half with a bomb made of fertilizer (which does not qualify as a weapon of mass destruction) while the victims

Dangerous Personalities: An FBI Profiler Shows You How to Identify and Protect Yourself From Harmful People

by Joe Navarro and Toni Sciarra Poynter  · 6 Oct 2014  · 261pp  · 71,798 words

one other like-minded paranoid personality for support in doing harm. This is what happened with the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers—the Tsarnaev brothers. Similarly, Timothy McVeigh joined forces with Terry Nichols, a fellow like-minded personality, to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma. And when they cannot

…

idea—a passage of the Bible, or a legal, social, or political issue that may be of little or no consequence to most of us. Timothy McVeigh focused on the militarization of police SWAT teams in the 1990s. He didn’t like their military-style tactics targeting reclusive Randy Weaver and his

…

mailed 16 bombs, killing 3 and wounding 23 If I blow up a building, I’ll stop the FBI and do away with SWAT teams. —Timothy McVeigh, bomber of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 women and children and injuring hundreds If I set off a bomb

…

justify the killing of Americans in 2001. Ted Kaczynski collected wounds and grievances from the time of the industrial revolution in the 18th century, while Timothy McVeigh’s dissatisfaction with the federal government and wound collecting began just a few years prior to his bombing of an Oklahoma City federal building, during

…

deciphering dangerous personalities, are clueless, don’t know what to look for, or are biased in their favor. For example, when asked, a friend of Timothy McVeigh said, “If you don’t consider what happened in Oklahoma City, Tim is a good person.”3 And that says it all. There are people

…

, marinating in their passions, hatred, and fears. Unfortunately, their trajectory is usually the same: violence against those they devalue or fear.8 For example, when Timothy McVeigh was turned down for the Green Berets and was discharged from the US Army, he made the decision to isolate himself in Arizona so he

Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security

by Daniel J. Solove  · 28 Jun 2011  · 257pp  · 72,251 words

criminal activities is quite blurry. What about the Beltway snipers of 2002, who terrorized people in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia? What about Timothy McVeigh, the man who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people? Are these regular crimes? Or matters of national security

…

woods. He enjoyed reading history books, riding his bike, and gardening.13 “John” is Mohammed Atta, the ringleader of the September 11 attacks. “Matt” is Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people. “Bill” is Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, who mailed bombs

…

Quiet Path to Terror: Rage Was Born in Egypt, Nurtured in Germany, Inflicted on U.S., Wash. Post, Sept. 22, 2001, at A1. 12. Profile: Timothy McVeigh, BBC News, May 11, 2001, http://news.bbc. co.uk/2/hi/1321244.stm (last visited Aug. 17, 2010). 13. John Schwartz & Serge F. Kovaleski

Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces

by Radley Balko  · 14 Jun 2013  · 465pp  · 134,575 words

), Gun Owners of America, and the rants of right-wing personalities like Liddy, inspired more reactionary opposition from the left. Then, on April 19, 1994, Timothy McVeigh set off a fertilizer bomb outside the Arthur Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 164 people. McVeigh claimed that he bombed the building in

…

Waco, it was also possible to believe the ATF deserved sharp criticism for its handling of both Ruby Ridge and Waco and be appalled at Timothy McVeigh’s retaliatory murder of 164 innocent people. But McVeigh’s actions seemed to cement partisian battle lines for years to come, at least when it

Zero-Sum Future: American Power in an Age of Anxiety

by Gideon Rachman  · 1 Feb 2011  · 391pp  · 102,301 words

The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism

by Steve Kornacki  · 1 Oct 2018  · 589pp  · 167,680 words

Fantasyland

by Kurt Andersen  · 5 Sep 2017

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History

by Kurt Andersen  · 4 Sep 2017  · 522pp  · 162,310 words

The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?

by David Brin  · 1 Jan 1998  · 205pp  · 18,208 words

Rise of the Machines: A Cybernetic History

by Thomas Rid  · 27 Jun 2016  · 509pp  · 132,327 words

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy

by Talia Lavin  · 14 Jul 2020  · 231pp  · 71,299 words

Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth

by Elizabeth Williamson  · 8 Mar 2022  · 574pp  · 148,233 words

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

by Steven Pinker  · 24 Sep 2012  · 1,351pp  · 385,579 words

Them: Adventures With Extremists

by Jon Ronson  · 1 Jan 2001  · 341pp  · 87,268 words

Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century

by P. W. Singer  · 1 Jan 2010  · 797pp  · 227,399 words

America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism

by Anatol Lieven  · 3 May 2010

A People's History of the United States

by Howard Zinn  · 2 Jan 1977  · 913pp  · 299,770 words

The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom

by Yochai Benkler  · 14 May 2006  · 678pp  · 216,204 words

Assassination Vacation

by Sarah Vowell  · 28 Mar 2005  · 208pp  · 69,863 words

Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King: Bill Gates and His Quest to Shape Our World

by Anupreeta Das  · 12 Aug 2024  · 315pp  · 115,894 words

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

by Steven Pinker  · 1 Jan 2002  · 901pp  · 234,905 words

Liars and Outliers: How Security Holds Society Together

by Bruce Schneier  · 14 Feb 2012  · 503pp  · 131,064 words

Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of Al Qa'ida Since 9/11: The Pursuit of Al Qa'ida Since 9/11

by Seth G. Jones  · 29 Apr 2012  · 649pp  · 172,080 words

The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America

by Margaret O'Mara  · 8 Jul 2019

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared Diamond  · 2 Jan 2008  · 801pp  · 242,104 words

Giving the Devil His Due: Reflections of a Scientific Humanist

by Michael Shermer  · 8 Apr 2020  · 677pp  · 121,255 words

The Ransomware Hunting Team: A Band of Misfits' Improbable Crusade to Save the World From Cybercrime

by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden  · 24 Oct 2022  · 392pp  · 114,189 words

Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-Connected World

by Bruce Schneier  · 3 Sep 2018  · 448pp  · 117,325 words

Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis

by Tao Leigh. Goffe  · 14 Mar 2025  · 441pp  · 122,013 words

The Twittering Machine

by Richard Seymour  · 20 Aug 2019  · 297pp  · 83,651 words

How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales From the Pentagon

by Rosa Brooks  · 8 Aug 2016  · 548pp  · 147,919 words

Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War

by Fred Kaplan  · 1 Mar 2016  · 383pp  · 105,021 words

Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World

by Bruce Schneier  · 1 Jan 2000  · 470pp  · 144,455 words

Glock: The Rise of America's Gun

by Paul M. Barrett  · 10 Jan 2012  · 249pp  · 77,027 words

The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever

by Christopher Hitchens  · 14 Jun 2007  · 740pp  · 236,681 words

Alpha Girls: The Women Upstarts Who Took on Silicon Valley's Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime

by Julian Guthrie  · 15 Nov 2019

Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy

by Adam Jentleson  · 12 Jan 2021  · 400pp  · 108,843 words

Rethinking Islamism: The Ideology of the New Terror

by Meghnad Desai  · 25 Apr 2008

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World From Scratch

by Lewis Dartnell  · 15 Apr 2014  · 398pp  · 100,679 words

The New Class War: Saving Democracy From the Metropolitan Elite

by Michael Lind  · 20 Feb 2020

Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible

by Stephen Braun and Douglas Farah  · 1 Apr 2008  · 459pp  · 109,490 words

Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism From Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda

by John Mueller  · 1 Nov 2009  · 465pp  · 124,074 words

The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East

by Robert Fisk  · 2 Jan 2005  · 1,800pp  · 596,972 words

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-But Some Don't

by Nate Silver  · 31 Aug 2012  · 829pp  · 186,976 words

Collapse

by Jared Diamond  · 25 Apr 2011  · 753pp  · 233,306 words

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2011

by Steve Coll  · 23 Feb 2004  · 956pp  · 288,981 words

The Enigma of Capital: And the Crises of Capitalism

by David Harvey  · 1 Jan 2010  · 369pp  · 94,588 words

Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

by Jeremy Scahill  · 1 Jan 2007  · 924pp  · 198,159 words

Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion

by Paul Bloom  · 281pp  · 79,464 words

The Human Swarm: How Our Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall

by Mark W. Moffett  · 31 Mar 2019  · 692pp  · 189,065 words

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us)

by Tom Vanderbilt  · 28 Jul 2008  · 512pp  · 165,704 words

The Case for Israel

by Alan Dershowitz  · 31 Jul 2003

The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against Al-Qaeda

by Ali H. Soufan and Daniel Freedman  · 11 Sep 2011  · 624pp  · 189,582 words

Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics

by Glenn Greenwald  · 14 Apr 2008  · 286pp  · 79,601 words

Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It

by Richard A. Clarke and Robert Knake  · 15 Dec 2010  · 282pp  · 92,998 words

Drowning in Oil: BP & the Reckless Pursuit of Profit

by Loren C. Steffy  · 5 Nov 2010  · 305pp  · 79,356 words

Antisemitism: Here and Now

by Deborah E. Lipstadt  · 29 Jan 2019  · 276pp  · 71,950 words

Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream

by Arianna Huffington  · 7 Sep 2010  · 300pp  · 78,475 words

Flash Crash: A Trading Savant, a Global Manhunt, and the Most Mysterious Market Crash in History

by Liam Vaughan  · 11 May 2020  · 268pp  · 81,811 words

Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State

by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin  · 5 Sep 2011  · 328pp  · 100,381 words

Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower

by William Blum  · 31 Mar 2002

Colorado

by Lonely Planet

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance

by Atul Gawande  · 2 Apr 2007

America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter to Freedom

by Meghan McCain and Michael Black  · 31 May 2012  · 367pp  · 117,340 words

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

by Kim Zetter  · 11 Nov 2014  · 492pp  · 153,565 words

Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis

by Jared Diamond  · 6 May 2019  · 459pp  · 144,009 words

Off the Edge: Flat Earthers, Conspiracy Culture, and Why People Will Believe Anything

by Kelly Weill  · 22 Feb 2022

Merchants' War

by Stross, Charles  · 30 Sep 2007  · 414pp  · 123,666 words

Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy

by Eric O'Neill  · 1 Mar 2019  · 299pp  · 88,375 words

The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity

by Byron Reese  · 23 Apr 2018  · 294pp  · 96,661 words

Ma’am Darling

by Craig Brown  · 28 Jul 2017

The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters

by Gregory Zuckerman  · 5 Nov 2013  · 483pp  · 143,123 words

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

by Jonathan Haidt  · 13 Mar 2012  · 539pp  · 139,378 words

Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change

by George Marshall  · 18 Aug 2014  · 298pp  · 85,386 words