The Lives They Saved is the story in artifacts and oral histories of the 300,000 New Yorkers who were evacuated from Manhattan on 9/11...by boat. It is a story that has not yet been written about or told. It includes hundreds of oral histories and many photographs of this high drama, set against the terrifying backdrop of the day when the Earth stood still, every airport in the U.S. was closed down, and Manhattan was seized by gridlock. For perspective, the boatlift that saved Britain's expeditionary force from the beaches of Dunkirk removed approximately the same number of people: 300,000.
Douglas Keeney is an historian, researcher, speaker and author of more than a dozen books on American history. After spending sixteen years as an advertising executive at many of the top advertising agencies including Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam, he launched Douglas Keeney & Company, a publishing and production firm that includes content creation for cable television networks and book packaging. In 1992, Keeney cofounded The Military, now Discovery Communications, and hosted the series "On Target." He is probably best-known for unearthing the official U.S. manual on how the government would function after a devastating nuclear attack - the basis for his book by the same name, The Doomsday Scenario, excerpted by the New York Times. This was followed by the first exhaustive history of the air war against Nazi Germany in the bestseller, The Pointblank Directive (Osprey/London). The Eleventh Hour (Wiley) was another bestseller and was widely reviewed as ground breaking and comprises unseen diaries and logs chronicling Franklin D. Roosevelt's trip to the 1943 Tehran Conference. He is also the editor of the Lost Histories of World War II book series. He has appeared on Fox, The Discovery Channel, CBS, PBS, and The Learning Channel. Keeney earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Southern California. During his years in marketing he won numerous awards for new product development. A pilot and scuba diver, he lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife, the journalist Jill Johnson Keeney.
NetGalley Review: 5 stars Last updated on 13 Jul 2021 "There are some books you finish and right away you write the review, with a book like this I think it takes serious processing time. What can I say? How do I feel or what do I even write? This story is absolutely gut wrenching and truthfully or shamefully one I wasn't aware of. I always like to read about September 11 around this time of year and this book hit the mark for me. I knew about the boats the led massive people to safety but I really didn't know about them and how many times have I ridden the Staten Island Ferry or the Seastreak? I think it's so important to know as much as possible about September as to truly never forget! Again, I'd highly recommend this! I loved how it was written because it was easy to put down and then come back to it because with books like this sometimes you need that. So many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my gifted ebook copy." -Jamie Iannuzzelli, reviewer at 1982 NetGalley Review: 5 stars Last updated on 03 Aug 2021 "This is a story of heroes, An unseen look in word and photo of the day that shook this country and the world to its very core. Amidst the horrific events of the day and the gridlock in NYC, a magnificent effort was underway by the individuals that worked the waterways; the Staten Island Ferry, the Seastreak (as an example) to bring hundreds of thousands to safety. I was unaware of the enormity of this evacuation. I as you, have seen hundreds of photos and read many accounts of 9/11. In some photographs, the boats on waterway are the foreground to the backdrop of the burning towers. I haven't thought of the work and unending diligence of those that were accountable for ferrying people out of the city. This is an emotional and heart wrenching account that needed to be told. As a portion of the book subtitle reads "The Untold Story of Medics, Mariners and the Incredible Boatlift" it is all that and so much more. This is a day that I will never forget and L. Douglas Keeney has given us an oral history that will add to the unconditional efforts of the human spirit."-Susan Derbacher, consumer reviewer
