WHAT WE SAW: The Events of September 11, 2001, in Words, Pictures, and Video

Assembled chronologically, this anthology of article excerpts, essays and personal narratives econstructs the events of September 11–17 in words and pictures. Packaged with the book is a DVD, a document of events extracted from the CBS News Archives. The DVD opens with Dan Rather and a CBS News special report, including clips of Bryant Gumbel on the phone with eyewitnesses five minutes after the first crash. Among the dedicated CBS reporters covering the tragedy was Carol Marin, who fled the WTC collapse and continued uptown to the CBS News studio, still covered in dust and debris when she went on the air with Rather. Equally memorable is Ed Bradley's lengthy video coverage of the "thousands of volunteers who were drawn by an overwhelming urge to help" in the rescue efforts. Several short pieces in the book are by CBS correspondents, and these abbreviated accounts, edited down and rewritten, are weak alongside the same material on the DVD. The articles and excerpts from magazines and newspapers include standout selections by Anna Quindlen, Pete Hamill and David Grann. David Letterman's September 17 talk with a weeping Dan Rather and the Naudet brothers' acclaimed September 11 documentary were peaks of the CBS coverage, both with huge ratings, and many will be disappointed by their conspicuous absence from this DVD. (Aug. 20)

Forecast: No doubt heavy promotion on CBS will help sell this. 375,000 first printing.