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Thunderstruck

By Erik Larson

(13)

| Paperback | 9781400080670

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Book Description

A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s “great hush”

In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means oContinue

A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s “great hush”

In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication—whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.

Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners, scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed, and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: the wireless, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, “the kindest of men,” nearly commits the perfect crime.

With his superb narrative skills, Erik Larson guides these parallel narratives toward a relentlessly suspenseful meeting on the waters of the North Atlantic. Along the way, he tells of a sad and tragic love affair that was described on the front pages of newspapers around the world, a chief inspector who found himself strangely sympathetic to the killer and his lover, and a driven and compelling inventor who transformed the way we communicate. Thunderstruck presents a vibrant portrait of an era of séances, science, and fog, inhabited by inventors, magicians, and Scotland Yard detectives, all presided over by the amiable and fun-loving Edward VII as the world slid inevitably toward the first great war of the twentieth century. Gripping from the first page, and rich with fascinating detail about the time, the people, and the new inventions that connect and divide us, Thunderstruck is splendid narrative history from a master of the form.


From the Hardcover edition.

Critics

  • Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

    Last updated at 16:55 05 March 2007 Comments ( -) Add to My Stories Dr Crippen (with turned up collar) is led off the Montrose after the thrilling transatlantic chase Why is Dr Crippen still the best-known wife murderer in the annals of crime? Apart ... (read full critics)

    dailymail published on Tue, 21 Sep 2010

  • Ship to Shore

    Erik Larson has done it again. In “Thunderstruck,” just as in his last book, “The Devil in the White City,” he has taken an unlikely historical subject and spun it into gold. The formula is simple enough, though the finished books verge on alchemy. T ... (read full critics)

    nytimes published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

4 Reviews

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  • 1 person find this helpful

    I love Erik Larson's style of making history interesting. Mixing murder with the history of wireless communication sounds boring, but kept me interested throughout.

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    Dave Sanders said on Feb 13, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    I gave this book a chance and trudged past the first 30 pages....then I was hooked. Glad I kept going. It was worth the push. History comes to life.

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    LittleBird said on Feb 20, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • Erik Larsen continues his genius of dualing story lines he started with "The Devil and the White City". This time, a British murder contrasting with inventor Marconi's creation of the wireless telegraph.

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    SWReader said on Nov 14, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • Disappointing...

    I can't knock the quality of Larson's research - see esp. note 21 on pg 403 about 'snail communication!' - but it took til around pg 290 (of 390) for the two separate stories to intertwine and really get going.

    Although I'm loathe to be too negative about the book, I have to admit I started s ... (continue)

    I can't knock the quality of Larson's research - see esp. note 21 on pg 403 about 'snail communication!' - but it took til around pg 290 (of 390) for the two separate stories to intertwine and really get going.

    Although I'm loathe to be too negative about the book, I have to admit I started skim reading the Marconi section about half way through.

    Still, I'd definitely check out another of his books if a new one was published.

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    goldtop said on Jan 3, 2009 | Add your feedback

Book Details

  • Rating:
    (13)
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  • English Books
  • Paperback 480 Pages
  • Edition: Reprint
  • ISBN-10: 1400080673
  • ISBN-13: 9781400080670
  • Publisher: Three Rivers Press
  • Pub date: Sep 25, 2007
  • Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD, Others and eBook
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