false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255740164m/3389089.jpg 3389089 5 It was an explosion that reverberated across the country&#8212;and into the very heart of early-twentieth-century America. On the morning of October 1, 1910, the walls of the Los Angeles Times Building buckled as a thunderous detonation sent men, machinery, and mortar rocketing into the night air. When at last the wreckage had been sifted and the hospital triage units consulted, twenty-one people were declared dead and dozens more injured. But as it turned out, this was just a prelude to the devastation that was to come.<br><br>In <i>American Lightning</i>, acclaimed author Howard Blum masterfully evokes the incredible circumstances that led to the original &#8220;crime of the century&#8221;&#8212;and an aftermath more dramatic than even the crime itself. <br><br>With smoke still wafting up from the charred ruins, the city&#8217;s mayor reacts with undisguised excitement when he learns of the arrival, only that morning, of America&#8217;s greatest detective, William J. Burns, a former Secret Service man who has been likened to Sherlock Holmes. Surely Burns, already world famous for cracking unsolvable crimes and for his elaborate disguises, can run the perpetrators to ground. <br><br>Through the work of many months, snowbound stakeouts, and brilliant forensic sleuthing, the great investigator finally identifies the men he believes are responsible for so much destruction. Stunningly, Burns accuses the men&#8212;labor activists with an apparent grudge against the Los Angeles Times&#8217;s fiercely anti-union owner&#8212;of not just one heinous deed but of being part of a terror wave involving hundreds of bombings. <br><br>While preparation is laid for America&#8217;s highest profile trial ever&#8212;and the forces of labor and capital wage hand-to-hand combat in the streets&#8212;two other notable figures are swept into the drama: industry-shaping &#64257;lmmaker D.W. Griffith, who perceives in these events the possibility of great art and who will go on to alchemize his observations into the landmark film The Birth of a Nation; and crusading lawyer Clarence Darrow, committed to lend his eloquence to the defendants, though he will be driven to thoughts of suicide before events have fully played out.<br><br>Simultaneously offering the absorbing reading experience of a can&#8217;t-put-it-down thriller and the perception-altering resonance of a story whose reverberations continue even today, <i>American Lightning</i> is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction. 3428948 book 1 American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century total:203|5:27|4:63|3:85|2:25|1:3| 203 695 423 81 2 4 false false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 10:26:38 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 28 16:36:06 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 3 false false Mon Sep 29 10:37:42 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 29 10:49:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Oct 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 09 14:11:51 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 09 14:12:57 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 07 14:28:11 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 14:33:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Dec 04 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 07:58:44 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 07:30:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 18:35:58 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 19:06:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jul 13 19:01:18 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 19:45:50 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 08:00:18 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 16:44:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Dec 28 08:28:53 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 03 13:03:22 -0800 2009
Clarence Darrow, "Billy" Burns, and D.W. Grif...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 08 19:44:49 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 19:50:51 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 1 false false Thu Feb 05 10:00:59 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 10:00:59 -0800 2009 Most critics were eager to learn more about this neglected event in American history and were glad to have Blum as their teacher. They were most impressed by the first half of the book, which covers the attacks and investigation and which was several times compared to a Hollywood thriller or an epis...

more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Feb 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 17:15:52 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 04 14:00:29 -0800 2009 1 The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America ; this book had the same two plot lines converging, famous characters, and a sensational murder mystery behind it, but Larson's book was more deftly writt...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 24 07:00:22 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 07:03:44 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 27 14:15:01 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 14:22:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 21 23:31:59 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 13:33:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 23:53:20 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 13:05:15 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 11:37:30 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 11:40:59 -0700 2009 The main true life characters - Billy Burns, world famous detective, film pioneer D.W. Griffith and celebrated lawyer Clarence Darrow - do come off as larger than life characters.
I am quite intere...more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jan 31 07:45:18 -0800 2009 Wed Jul 08 06:31:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 12 13:57:16 -0800 2008 Mon May 18 05:17:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 18 18:19:03 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 06 22:06:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3389089