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Thunderstruck
by: Erik Larson

Used Price: $4.61
Third Party New Price: $7.80

Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.152309421
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Crown
Manufacturer: Crown
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 480
Publication Date: October 24, 2006
Publisher: Crown
Release Date: October 24, 2006
Sales Rank: 185541
Studio: Crown

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Editorial Review:

Product 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 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.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- "More than a saga of violence"
In his opening note, Larson tells the reader that he hopes "to present a fresh portrait of the period 1900 to 1910/ By chronicling the converging stories of a killer and an inventor." The author accomplishes exactly what he intended in this highly researched and detailed account of the lives of Guglielmo Marconi and Hawley Crippen. The back of the book contains over forty pages of sources. I enjoyed this book because it read just like a novel, yet I knew that each action and quote was specifically researched. A slight problem that some people may encounter is the amount of information that Larson so eagerly wants to share about these two individuals. He even mentions that there was so much more that he wanted to share. (Thank you for the consideration Mr. Larson, but I found that there was plenty of information to satisfy any inquiring reader.) While there is a lot of information it is all very clear and understandable. ... Read More

Rating:

- Borrring!
I have not read Mr. Larsen's first book, which I understand is quite excellent. That reputation is the reason I bought this. I am unafraid of intellectual, historical novels that are well written . . . but this is exhausting. I have yet to finish the 390 page book (plus appendices and notes), but am now 280 pages into it and the plot has yet to develop. I believe there is a murder, and I believe Marconi's wonderful wireless invention will help with the murder case. But the two parallel stories of Marconi's invention and the developing murder -two separate aspects of the novel- have yet to become entwined in any manner. As a matter of fact the major part of the Marconi story is in the late 1890s into 1903 or 1904 at this point . . . and the other plot (the murder mystery) takes place mostly around 1910. As I state in the title here, this very borrring, and the plot has no momentum. A poor effort, and it seems almost formulaic ... Read More

Rating:

- An Artful Reconstruction of History
A wonderful, exciting, and vivid look at what life may have been like for and in the time of Guglielmo Marconi, (often cited as the inventor of but, more accurately, the first to successfully commercialize wireless communication). The author painstakingly reconstructs many events in Marconi's life and juxtaposes them against the life of the notorious English murderer Dr. H. H. Crippen using public records and letters.

The genius Marconi struggles for years to perfect his invention to the point where it can bridge the Atlantic and successfully compete with the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable, making communication with ships making the voyage between the continents possible for the first time in history. Meanwhile, the life of the Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen is presented in shockingly sympathetic detail as the plain-looking and love-starved peddler of patent medicines meets the love of his life and attempts to get away with ... Read More

Rating:

- THUNDERSTUCK OUT
I was thunderstruck by Devil In The White City, so why not Thunderstruck. Using a format that was so effective in Devil, Larson interweaves a story of murder back in the early 1900's with that of Marconi and the introduction of wireless communication.

I found the story of Marconi much more riveting than that of Dr. Crippen and the murder of his wife. I was disappointed in the uneveniess of the two storylines. Unlike in Devil where each of the stories warranted equal analysis and narrative, here the story of Dr. Crippen is undeserving of equal billing with that of Marconi. It is at best an aside to the Marconi story and their nexus is minimal and almost anti-climatic.

I would be interested in a better analysis of the Crippen crime, and its' ultimate trigger, if one exists. While Larson does a great job and is very detailed as to Crippen before the murder, we are left here with too many questions as to his method. ... Read More

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