Edward Linenthal has written or contributed to several books concerning the way Americans remember and memorialize the past. This book, about the Oklahoma city bombing, is more specifically about how that horrific event has been commemorated by local residents and the US nation at large. He describes it as the story of the formation of a bereaved community. Linenthal has closely followed the process of creating the official memorial of the bombing, and has had the benefit of complete access to the archives and storerooms of the memorial commission. In the course of his work, he has also made the acquaintance the survivors personally - a further source of material (both their recollections, and examples of the outpouring of mail they received from all over the world).