How do you find the strength to forgive in the midst of unthinkable grief? With compassion for all who have been touched by tragedy, Grace from the Rubble tells the heart-stirring true story of found forgiveness, lasting hope, and the unlikely friendship of two fathers on opposite sides of tragedy. In what was to become the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing left a community searching for healing and hope. Grace from the Rubble tells the intertwining stories of four individuals: Julie Welch, a young professional full of promise whose life was cut short by the bombing; Bud Welch, Julie's father; Tim McVeigh, the troubled mind behind the horrific attack; and Bill McVeigh, the father of the bomber. With searing details by firsthand witnesses, including the former governor of Oklahoma, masterful storyteller Jeanne Bishop describes the suspenseful scenes leading up to that fateful day and the dramatic events that unfolded afterward as one father buried his only daughter and the other saw his only son arrested, tried, and executed for mass murder. Grace from the Rubble will teach you about: The importance of sharing your story The unlikely connections that can stem from heartbreak The life-changing impact of forgiveness Vivid and haunting, this true story is rich with memories and beautiful descriptions of the nation's heartland, a place of grit and love for neighbors and families. Bishop shares the ways in which the bombing affected her own family and led her to meet Bud and, ultimately, how she learned to see humanity amid inhuman violence. Praise for Grace from the Rubble: "Readers should have tissues at hand before beginning Bishop's affecting story. This incredible and empathetic story is a testament to the powers of forgiveness, fellowship, and redemption." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "Some say that love is the most powerful force in the world. I would suggest it's forgiveness. And the astonishing and beautifully told story of two fathers drawn together by unimaginable tragedy shows how the process of forgiveness happens step by grace-filled step." --James Martin, author, Jesus: A Pilgrimage and My Life with the Saints

The world was stunned on April 19, 1995, by the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 men, women, and children. In the aftermath of this horrific act, Americans did not want to believe that two clean-shaven, short-haired former army veterans could plan and carry out the most violent act of domestic terrorism in United States history. This book gives detailed explanations of the FBI's investigation.

In the early morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh drove into downtown Oklahoma City in a rented Ryder truck containing a deadly fertilizer bomb that he and his army buddy Terry Nichols had made the previous day. He parked in a handicapped-parking zone, hopped out of the truck, and walked away into a series of alleys and streets. Shortly after 9:00 A.M., the bomb obliterated one-third of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, including 19 infants and toddlers. McVeigh claimed he'd worked only with Nichols, and at least officially, the government believed him. But McVeigh's was just one version of events. And much of it was wrong. In Oklahoma City, veteran investigative journalists Andrew Gumbel and Roger G. Charles puncture the myth about what happened on that day—one that has persisted in the minds of the American public for nearly two decades. Working with unprecedented access to government documents, a voluminous correspondence with Terry Nichols, and more than 150 interviews with those immediately involved, Gumbel and Charles demonstrate how much was missed beyond the guilt of the two principal defendants: in particular, the dysfunction within the country's law enforcement agencies, which squandered opportunities to penetrate the radical right and prevent the bombing, and the unanswered question of who inspired the plot and who else might have been involved. To this day, the FBI heralds the Oklahoma City investigation as one of its great triumphs. In reality, though, its handling of the bombing foreshadowed many of the problems that made the country vulnerable to attack again on 9/11. Law enforcement agencies could not see past their own rivalries and underestimated the seriousness of the deadly rhetoric coming from the radical far right. In Oklahoma City, Gumbel and Charles give the fullest, most honest account to date of both the plot and the investigation, drawing a vivid portrait of the unfailingly compelling—driven, eccentric, fractious, funny, and wildly paranoid—characters involved.

The truck bomb didn't cause the real damage to the Federal Building. Couldn't, didn't. Not ever. The truth about death in Oklahoma City has been covered up since 9:02 AM on April 19, 1995. And no politician will keep that truth from coming out. --Jon Rappoport, author, Oklahoma City Bombing.

On April 19, 1995 the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City shook the nation, destroying our complacent sense of safety and sending a community into a tailspin of shock, grief, and bewilderment. Almost as difficult as the bombing itself has been the aftermath, its legacy for Oklahoma City and for the nation, and the struggle to recover from this unprecedented attack. In The Unfinished Bombing, Edward T. Linenthal explores the many ways Oklahomans and other Americans have tried to grapple with this catastrophe. Working with exclusive access to materials gathered by the Oklahoma City National Memorial Archive and drawing from over 150 personal interviews with family members of those murdered, survivors, rescuers, and many others. Linenthal looks at how the bombing threatened cherished ideas about American innocence, sparked national debate on how to respond to terrorism at home and abroad, and engendered a new "bereaved community" in Oklahoma City itself. Linenthal examines how different stories about the bombing were told through positive narratives of civic renewal and of religious redemption and more negative narratives of toxicity and trauma. He writes about the extraordinary bonds of affection that were created in the wake of the bombing, acts of kindness, empathy, and compassion that existed alongside the toxic legacy of the event. The Unfinished Bombing offers a compelling look at both the individual and the larger cultural consequences of one of the most searing events in recent American history.

A Los Angeles Times reporter makes use of hundreds of interviews, including a detailed, exclusive interview with Timothy McVeigh, to explore McVeigh's motives--and the movement behind them--for bombing the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.