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 seances,
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."
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