An OKBOMB Syllabus
All of the Best Books on the Subject
People frequently ask me what book they should read about the OKC bombing. Unfortunately, there are not many—if anything this subject is woefully lacking when you compare it to other historical events. The below are about the only books worth reading on the subject (and little more than these is actually available):
That said, there are a few good books that most new learners should begin with.
I always start newcomers to the subject with Andrew Gumbel & Roger Charles’ 2012 book Oklahoma City—What the Investigation Missed and Why It Still Matters. That book provides an excellent foundation. It’s also available in audiobook format on Audible, and the audiobook is pretty good. Below is 5 minute sample, from a section in the book about McVeigh co-conspirator (and witness against him at trial) Roger Moore:
There are also indeed a few other good titles that one needs to read to get a fuller understanding of the subject. To that end, I have put together here a list of the best books on the subject. Once more: about half of them are all available free to read online at OpenLibrary. For those not OpenLibrary, I’ve linked to the Amazon or publisher page.
I consider all of these books to be must-read titles on the topic, each has one or more details in them that are key facts and central to understanding this subject.
Note: the below list is in reverse chronological order, from newest to oldest.
Blowback: The Untold Story of the FBI and the Oklahoma City Bombing by Margaret Roberts (Bombardier Books · July 25, 2025) · [Audiobook]
Now You See Me: How I Forgave the Unforgivable by Kathy Sanders (FaithWords · 2014). Note: in chapter 24, Sanders recounts her planned interview w/ Terry Nichols live on 60 Minutes, and how the Bureau of Prisons (Federal, under the DOJ) canceled it for no reason at the last minute.
Oklahoma City--What the Investigation Missed and Why It Still Matters by Roger Charles and Andrew Gumbel (William Morrow · April 24, 2012) · [Audiobook] to date, this is the best book on the Oklahoma City bombing and should be read first by anyone new to the subject.
After Oklahoma City by Kathy Sanders (Master Strategies Publishing · March, 2005). Bombing victim Kathy Sanders writes about some of the things she uncovered during her journey for the truth.
The Final Report On the Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building April 19, 1995 by Charles Key (OKBIC · September 13, 2001). This is a reference work, a report produced as a result of a Grand Jury empanelled to investigate the bombing. They heard from many witnesses and this book belongs on your shelf.
In Bad Company by Mark Hamm (Northeastern University Press · October 2001) Largely about the neo-Nazi gang “The Aryan Republican Army,” this book covers professor Hamm’s “multiple John Doe” theory wherein he suggests that one or more members of that gang were involved in the bombing, and McVeigh involved with their bank robberies. (see my recent piece on that here)
Others Unknown by Stephen Jones (PublicAffairs · August 1998, Revised 2001). Written by McVeigh’s chief defense attorney, the book covers the trial and case from his perspective and has some useful information.
The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror by David Hoffman (Feral House · January 1998). This book has a lot of extraneous and irrelevant information in it about Pan-Am 103—however, it also has a lot of details in it that are important, such as Roger Moore’s FBI handler likely being a dirty FBI agent named Tom Ross. This was confirmed to me by Roger Charles in a 2021 phone call. Author David Hoffman also reported on Roger Moore’s CIA connections, something that was also later confirmed by Roger Charles, via intelligence sources, on his 2012 book.
Deathtrap: Were Innocent Victims Used as Bait? by J.D. Cash and Chuck Harder (Peoples Network Inc · September 1997). This book is notable in that it excerpts many of J.D. Cash’s McCurtain Gazette articles, those written between 1995 and the publishing date of fall 1997.
The Secret Life of Bill Clinton by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Regnery Publishing · 1997) Note: Nine chapters are devoted to Oklahoma City, and despite the title, the book is not a sensational one nor about Clinton’s affairs. Strongly recommended. The book is notable for it’s interview with Andreas Strassmeir, one of the few interviews he did where he was candid.
Find below a list of complementary titles that serve to provide additional context regarding central figures and issues of the period, some related directly and others indirectly, to the bombing.
This list is in order from oldest to most recent:
Armed and Dangerous by James Coates (Hill & Wang · 1987)
The Silent Brotherhood: The Chilling Inside Story of America's Violent, Anti-Government Militia Movement by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt (Free Press · January 1989) (Signet · November 1990) Re-released in paperback, ebook, and audiobook Dec 2024 bv Simon & Schuster and renamed “The Order” - +then a major motion picture based on the book.
Bitter Harvest: Gordon Kahl and the Posse Comitatus Murder in the Heartland by James Corcoran (Viking · May 1990)
Committee of the States by Cheri Seymour (Camden Place Communications, Inc. · August 1991)
Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat by Morris Dees with James Corcoran (HarperCollins · April 1996)
Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City is Only the Beginning by Joel Dyer (Westview Press · August 1997)
No Heroes: Inside the FBI's Secret Counter-Terror Force by Danny O. Coulson and Elaine Shannon (Pocket Books · March 1999)
On-Scene Commander by Weldon Kennedy (Potomac Books, University of Nebraska Press · September 2007) - notable in that Weldon Kennedy, onetime commander of the OKBOMB investigation, straight-up lied by writing that “there were no eyewitnesses” - meanwhile the FBI had over two dozen eyewitnesses.