| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.3

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 93.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Terror, Culture, Politics: Rethinking 9/11. Ed. by Daniel J. Sherman and Terry Nardin. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006. x, 271 pp. Cloth, $65.00, ISBN 0-253-34672-X. Paper, $24.95, ISBN 0-253-21812-8.)
This book is about the politics of memory. The authors explore numerous cultural artifacts—photographs, comic books, and public monuments—that conjure memories of tragic affairs. When it comes to 9/11, the authors, who write from a variety of disciplines and vantage points, see memory as contested. Daniel J. Sherman points out, for instance, that the World Trade Center (WTC) had "been the object of clashing interests virtually from the moment the planes hit the towers, and in a sense long before" (p. 133). Thus, memory about the WTC's destruction could never be straightforward.	1
The authors explain how 9/11 prompts painful and challenging memories. There is the obvious sense of "national vulnerability," as Susan Lurie describes it (p. 65). More provocatively, United Flight 93 (already the subject of a Hollywood film) prompts Elaine Scarry to explore the theme of democratic self-defense—captured in the frantic deliberation of passengers who decide to become "citizen-soldiers" capable of protecting themselves when no one else would (p. 192). Finally, there are interesting reflections about the "therapeutic" feature of remembering in a democratic culture and tough questions asked about what function memory serves (p. 106).	. . .

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