‘Gripping’ Bush memoirs to include 9/11 revelations

George W Bush's publishers are promising "gripping, never-before-heard details" about 9/11 as well as personal issues such as his alcoholism when his memoirs are released on November 9. Crown Publishers, a division of Random House, also confirmed yesterday that the former US President's book will be published under its original working title Decision Points.

Bush has said that the account will not be a memoir in the traditional sense but will instead recall key decisions in both his presidency and personal life. The book's cover, which was also unveiled yesterday, shows the then-President striding past the White House's Rose Garden Colonnade, in a dark suit and carrying a presidential briefing book (above).

Bush's account of his frequently controversial eight years in the White House is highly anticipated, not least because he has given virtually no interviews or public speeches since leaving the Oval Office 15 months ago. Instead, his publishers claimed yesterday, "[Bush] has spent almost every day writing Decision Points".

Crown Publishers - whose latest book is Kitty Kelley's controversial biography of Oprah Winfrey - are calling Bush's memoirs "a strikingly personal and candid account revealing how and why he made the defining decisions in his consequential presidency and personal life."

'Dubya' was not particularly well known for acknowledging his errors during his presidency. However his publishers claim that in Decision Points Bush "writes honestly and directly about his flaws and mistakes, as well as his historic achievements".

As well as the President's take on the September 11 terrorist attacks, he also talks about the protracted legal dispute over the 2000 presidential election, his decision to stop drinking in 1986, his relationship with his family and other personal details.

Publishing industry sources told Associated Press yesterday that Bush has completed his first draft and is editing the manuscript at his office in Dallas. A former White House speechwriter, Chris Michel, is said to be helping with research.

Bush is rumoured to have received a $7 million advance from Crown for his memoirs – some $8 million less than Bill Clinton was paid for his post-presidency book My Life.

Decision Points will go on sale for $35, but die-hard fans can splash out $350 for one of 1,000 signed, clothbound copies. The former President plans to tour the United States to promote the book.

Bush's wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, publishes her memoirs on May 4; it is not known whether they will contain any spoilers. ·