What happened after 9/11 was of monumental proportions while remaining largely invisible at the time. Trauma succeeded fear and was displaced by a thirst for revenge. The Bush administration both set precedents for and reflected Americans' response to the attacks on 9/11. The book focuses on different themes in each chapter - trauma and patriotic fervor, revenge, the turn to religion and away from science, the cult of secrecy, the surveillance society, the militarization of American civil society, the acceptance of torture, and the creation of an unregulated free market. Each chapter traces the connection between government policies and practices and individual Americans' beliefs and behavior. Have the years 2001-2008 forever changed American culture and undercut Americans' belief in an ever-improving future? Or will Americans abandon fear for hope and a renewed sense of national unity?

The second revised edition (in e-book only) has had all the links in the notes updated and contains a new Postscript: Twenty Years Later, which traces the connections between 9/11 and the insurrection of January 6, 2021.