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The nucleus of Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard Blum's 'American Lightning' is the October 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles 'Times' building. From that one act of terrorism a story is spawned that includes legendary detective William J. Burns, defense attorney extraordinaire Clarence Darrow, and the early twentieth century's greatest motion picture director, D.W. Griffith. Mary Pickford even puts in an appearance. Burns works to bring the 'Times' bombers to justice, Darrow eventually steps in to sa
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What do you get when you put "American's Sherlock Holmes", the "father of Cinema", the "Greatest American Lawyer", trade unions and a power mad publisher together in one story? You get a blast. Howard Blum tells the story an undeservedly forgotten event in American History - the deadly bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910. And what a story it is.
The cast of characters is amazing. D.W. Griffith, Clarence Darrow, Samuel Gompers Bill Burns and Harry Otis (one of the inspirations for th ...more
The cast of characters is amazing. D.W. Griffith, Clarence Darrow, Samuel Gompers Bill Burns and Harry Otis (one of the inspirations for th ...more
OK not exactly the type of "true crime" I usually read, but...interesting. I got it because I am interested in the history of labor in general and the sleaze factor in California's political and labor history in particular.
Clarence Darrow, "Billy" Burns, and D.W. Griffith - who knew there was the connection laid out in this book? My family's history in the movie business in the last century makes me curious about Griffith, and it was kind of fun to read about the movie biz...and about Clarence D ...more
Clarence Darrow, "Billy" Burns, and D.W. Griffith - who knew there was the connection laid out in this book? My family's history in the movie business in the last century makes me curious about Griffith, and it was kind of fun to read about the movie biz...and about Clarence D ...more
Very readable popular history. I love the multi mini-biographies in these books. The books is so engaging because it has an actual storyline and many big, characters.
entertaining book about class warfare and blowing up of newspaper building in LA in 1910 using a detective Burns, D W Griffith and Clarence Darrow as the protagonists in telling the story
a quick informative read
a quick informative read
Apr 30, 2009
Bob Lake
marked it as to-read
Jun 26, 2009
Lori
marked it as to-read
Nov 15, 2009
Kelly
marked it as tbr-true-crime
Feb 16, 2011
Deb
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May 04, 2011
Sharon
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Jan 10, 2013
Diana
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Apr 10, 2013
Electric
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Mar 20, 2014
Jennifer
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Jun 24, 2014
C. Witch
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Aug 18, 2014
Desirae
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Sep 29, 2016
Amanda Rose
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Oct 12, 2023
Liz
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Feb 09, 2024
Ronna
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