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Title: Apocalypse in Oklahoma: Waco and Ruby Ridge Revenged by Mark S. Hamm ISBN: 1-55553-300-0 Publisher: Northeastern Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: So Good, And Yet So Bad
Comment: Rather than simply repeat the perfectly useful book reviews already available here, I'll simply highlight a few strengths and weaknesses as I see them...
STRENGTHS:
Hamm's description of the actual morning of the event, including accounts of those inside the building at the time of the blast, their suffering, and sometimes their gruesome deaths, is absolutely gripping. Without wallowing unnecessarily in graphic details, he brings the horrors of that day into painful focus and full color. Such painful recollections are certainly appropriate, but definitely not for the squeamish.
He also gives a fascinating and understandable picture of some of white supremacy groups and odd religious groups which were connected, at least peripherally, to events at Ruby Ridge and Waco. The backgrounds on Ruby Ridge and Waco are decent enough to give the rest of his story context, but because of the controversy behind each of these, some readers may wish to pursue them in more depth elsewhere. As with the bombing itself (or the Kennedy assassination, or Area 51, or whatever), the facts may be in dispute and conspiracy theories abound, so this is hardly the final word. Hamm gives a plausible account, however, and makes no effort to justify the actions of the individuals or agencies involved in each.
His basic portrayals of McVeigh, Nichols, and other characters associated with the bombing are engaging and plausible. While certainly subject to dispute (like anything biographical), Hamm at least gives us some explanation for the who, what, why & how behind such a nightmare.
WEAKNESSES:
Hamm simply ADORES President Clinton throughout the first half of the book. He compares him to JFK and praises his leadership time and time again. Perhaps he simply wants to seem fair and balanced when he later criticizes some of Clinton's actions, but the initial homage is so lavish I found myself embarrassed for the author. It nearly derailed his narrative.
He's much less fond of President Bush (#41), and clearly abhorred the Gulf War of 1990. The loaded language he uses and the portrayal of the entire conflict as a "massacre" of presumably innocent men, women, and children, is again a rather embarrassing detraction from the subject at hand. He all but directly blames the armed forces and the Gulf War for McVeigh's involvement in the Oklahoma City Bombing, and refers repeatedly to McVeigh's "post-traumatic stress disorder" without so much as a footnote justifying such a diagnosis. He openly despises the NRA, guns, the army, and anything remotely associated with them. Such venom comes close to discrediting the rest of his work.
Finally, while his investigations are generally thorough, Hamm tries to fill in uncertainties with 'speculation'. This he takes to a whole new level. The liberties he takes with the POSSIBLE relationship between McVeigh and Nichols in the army are troubling to say the least. Even worse are his forays away from journalism into not only political science, but psychology, theology, sociology, pathology, and anything else that helps him conveniently fill in the blanks. Sometimes it's better just to identify the unknowns as unknowns.
These huge leaps of logic and major assumptions with few or no justifying footnotes are absolutely maddening--especially since this recklessness alternates with the truly persuasive and occasionally moving sections of the book.
SUMMARY: This is a decent foundational narrative for the main (known) players involved in the OKC Bombing. I didn't feel like I'd wasted the time I spent reading it, but I'll continue looking for a satisfying history of this terrible event. Mr. Hamm has some journalistic skill... it's just that his issues are showing and tend to stain an otherwise impressive work.
Rating: 3
Summary: Solid overview of Oklahoma City bombing
Comment: Despite the overwrought title, "Apocalypse in Oklahoma" is a sober look at the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and at Timothy McVeigh. The book is superior to "American Terrorist" (Lou Michel & Dan Herbeck) in that it portrays McVeigh even-handedly where "Terrorist" gets too close to McVeigh & is at times overly sympathetic towards him. "Apocalypse" is refreshing in resisting the temptation to get drawn into silly conspiracy theories. The book's greatest weakness is an unnecessarily negative, broad-brushed, ill-informed portrayal of the U.S. Army & soldiers. It is clear that Hamm lacks knowledge about the Army. As a soldier, I found his portrayal inaccurate, verging on offensive. If the characterization of the Army had been more accurate, I would have given the book more stars. Otherwise, the book is a solid broad description of the bombing & the events & personalities surrounding it.
Rating: 2
Summary: Intriguing but Not Convincing
Comment: Who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and why? Was it just a meth snorting, ex-soldier, down-and-out, government-hating punk, or is there more to this than that? Could the government itself be behind the attack or at least involved in some way? If you want a serious look at these questions then this book is definitely NOT what you want to read.
I found this book to be a very well written and clear reporting of the party line that Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols were solely responsible for the OKC bombing; them and no one else. This could be, but there is significant other evidence and testimony to the contrary that the government just doesn't want to address head on and this book doesn't either. The author does address some of this other evidence but only in the most cursory and unconvincing fashion. For instance, an Air Force general with a background in weapons systems claimed in writing that the bomb McVeigh supposedly used could NOT have done the kind of damage inflicted on the A. P. Murrah Federal Building and that there must have been more or different bombs involved. This stunning claim is waved off by the author with a single valueless sentence: "This thesis is disputed by physicists on the grounds that the five-thousand-pound truck bomb did have the capacity to blast upward and outward, like a balloon". What kind of "evidence" is that? Who are these physicists and why should they be believed? It's things like this (and there are other examples) that make this book seem like government spin doctoring and not a serious look at who is behind the biggest single act of terrorism on U.S. soil and why it was committed.
The author addresses the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents in a similarly odd way. He does say that the government botched both of those raids but he does so in the absolutely least offensive and most excusable way to downplay the government's mistakes. He leaves out critical details, downplays significant events and gets some things completely wrong that are not disputed facts regarding these cases. This kind of writing lacks credibility in my mind.
This author would have you believe that everything's just fine now that McVeigh has been caught and that you are a twit if you believe anybody but the government. Don't fall for this and, for that matter, don't fall for every conspiracy theory you hear either. By all means read this book but also read others like "The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror", "Others Unknown: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy" and others and then THINK about what is or isn't the truth based on credible evidence. There's more to this than we're being told and the folks who died in this attack deserve better from us than to just shrug our shoulders and go back to what we were doing just because the government says it's OK now.
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