While I viewed it on television as it happened, I've never explored the Columbine High School massacre until I read this book (Spt. 2011).

It is a very sincere attempt to explore what happened before, during and after the attack. Cullen has been very close to the original sources. About the only thing he hasn't seen is the Basement tapes, but then again, who has.

Be sure to read his Notes at the end of the book for even more clarity.

Their is little he doesn't cover, and if I missed a linkage here or there, it was probably my fault, not Cullens.

I learned many things I didn't know. Columbine was an attempt to blow up the building, not a hostage situation. Revenge against jocks or bullies was NOT one of the main objectives. More revelations follow, including an extensive look at WHY it happened. Cullen really IS an expert on the subject. "The media version was a gross caricature of how (the students) saw it."

President Clinton quoted Hemingway's A FAREWELL TO ARMS at one of the memorials: “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.” **

One key sentence is, "Heisenberg's uncertainty principle had been played out in full force: BY OBSERVING AN ENTITY, YOU ALTER IT." Emphasis mine

In describing Dylan, Cullen observes: "Depressives are inherently angry, though they rarely appear that way. They are angry at themselves. 'Anger turned inward equals depression,' (said investigator Brian Fuselier). Depression leads to murder when the anger is severe enough and then turns outward."

I have only one fault: their are NO pictures. Even a sketch of the school grounds and the layout would have been helpful.

(After e-mailing Cullen and studying his two web sites, I found this paragraph helpful: "The Columbine paperback edition (2010) reveals four secret meetings involving all four parents of the killers. This stunning development provides the first real insight into the mindsets of Wayne and Kathy Harris. The awkward encounters play out in the new Afterword—along with updates on three survivors of the Columbine shooting, and their starkly different perspectives on "forgiveness." The expanded edition also adds scans from the killers' journals, a diagram of the attack and book club questions.")
http://www.davecullen.com/columbine.htm

For extensive photos and videos, plus law enforcement diagrams, go to:
http://www.columbine-online.com/

**Not mentioned in the book is the next sentence by Hemmingway. “But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.” However, that is MY feeling, not part of the book.