Thunderstruck

With the conclusion of "Thunderstruck" (463 pages) I have read everything Erik Larson has written, so far. From the book's cover:

"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."

Another great read by Larson, though my least favorite of in a collection of great stories. Like "The Devil in the White City" Larson takes two seemingly different stories and shows how they intersect in history. Brilliant and a pleasure to read as always. I don't think there's another author in the world that could coax me in to reading anything about Guglielmo Marconi, despite the visionary he might have been.

The work of non-fiction is fast paced and full of Larson's wonderful ability to retell historic events as though it was a work of fiction. Highly recommended as with all his other books. Not to be missed.