Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed--And Why It Still Matters

Oklahoma City is a riveting account of one of the deadliest acts of terrorism on American soil, combining groundbreaking investigative research with a thrilling and true conspiracy story that has implications for national security and law enforcement today.

April 19, 1995: Timothy McVeigh drove into downtown Oklahoma City in a rented Ryder truck containing a fertilizer bomb that he and his army buddy Terry Nichols had made the previous day. He parked, hopped out of the truck, and walked away. 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.

Weaving together key elements of personal correspondence with co-defendant Terry Nichols, hundreds of hours of interviews, and thousands of government documents, Oklahoma City: What the Investigation Missed—and Why It Still Matters by investigative reporter Andrew Gumbel and retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel Roger G. Charles is a riveting piece of journalism and a cautionary tale for our times.

Veteran journalists Andrew Gumbel and Roger G. Charles give the fullest account yet of the Oklahoma City bombing plot and investigation, with unprecedented access to government documents, voluminous correspondence with Timothy McVeigh's partner, Terry Nichols, and more than 150 interviews. In Oklahoma City, Gumbel and Charles document what went wrong: in particular, the dysfunction within law enforcement agencies that squandered opportunities to prevent the bombing, as well as 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 on 9/11. Oklahoma City gives the most complete, honest story of both the plot and the investigation, drawing a vivid portrait of the unfailingly compelling—driven, eccentric, fractious, funny, and wildly paranoid—characters involved.

Oklahoma City is a riveting account of the most horrific act of terrorism on American soil prior to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Combining groundbreaking investigative research with a shocking and true conspiracy story, investigative journalists Andrew Gumbel and Roger Charles puncture the myth about what happened on April 19, 1995 at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Oklahoma City reveals that more players were involved in the plot than simply Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, offering indisputable evidence of a wide range conspiracy involving seditionists, radical anti-government ideologues, neo-Nazi organizations, and common criminals, most of them never prosecuted for the horrendous crime that left 168 people dead, including 19 small children.

Andrew Gumbel has worked for more than twenty years as a foreign correspondent for British newspapers. He has won awards for investigative reporting and political commentary, and written widely for U.S. publications including the Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic. His book Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America was published to great acclaim in 2005. He was born in England and educated at Oxford University.

Roger G. Charles is a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Marine Corps and an award-winning investigative journalist. In 1996 and 1997 he was a consultant on the Oklahoma City bombing for ABC's 20/20. He also worked as an investigator for Stephen Jones and the legal team defending Timothy McVeigh in his federal trial. Charles was born in Texas, raised in West Virginia, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1967.

Andrew Gumbel has worked for more than twenty years as a foreign correspondent for British newspapers. He has won awards for investigative reporting and political commentary, and written widely for U.S. publications including the Los Angeles Times and The Atlantic. His book Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America was published to great acclaim in 2005. He was born in England and educated at Oxford University.

Roger G. Charles is a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Marine Corps and an award-winning investigative journalist. In 1996 and 1997 he was a consultant on the Oklahoma City bombing for ABC's 20/20. He also worked as an investigator for Stephen Jones and the legal team defending Timothy McVeigh in his federal trial. Charles was born in Texas, raised in West Virginia, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1967.