September 11, 2001, began a new era in the United States of America. The attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., and the courage exhibited in those cities and in the skies over Pennsylvania, changed forever the way Americans viewed their security and their country's place in the world.

Shortly after the fateful day, the editors of Life created a book on the attacks and their immediate aftermath. The goal of that volume, One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001, was to be a photographic and narrative record of the day, and the book was praised in reviews and editorials. This volume aspires to pick up where that book left off. In the tradtition of classic Life picture stories, the patriotism — and the tension — that has swept the country is memorably evoked. A small church spared by the calamity of Ground Zero finds its missionary cause. The legacy of a pilot from a rural town endures on his farm, which continues to yield produce for the poor. Life revisits several survivors of September 11 whose stories were told in One Nation, and finds both anxiety and resilience.

President George W. Bush contributes a moving introduction to The American Spirit, which also includes essays by David McCullough, Melissa Fay Greene, James Bradley, and others. Gordon Parks provides new poetry and photography. Other noted photographers include Harry Benson, Joe McNally, James Salzano, Abigail Seymour, Steve Simon, Shannon Stapleton, David Turnley, and Denis Waugh. The singular record of Gregg Brown, who documented the recovery of the World Trade Center site for eight months, is presented here for the first time.

The American Spirit is about a country's bold effort to rise to the challenges of this new era. It is a volume that will resonate for generations to come.

Life has long been one of the country's preeminent publishers of books and periodicals, and is renowned for its presentation of photography. The American Spirit, the sixth Life book to be published in 2002, carries on this tradition. Many of the world's finest photographers are represented, and several of them have created new essays specifically for this volume. The American Spirit was produced by the same team of editors who in 2001 published One Nation, which spent five months on the New York Times Best Sellers list, reaching #1 in mid-December, and raised funds for the victims' charities.

Partial proceeds from the sale of this book will be contributed to the Twin Towers Fund.