American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century - Books

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
It was an explosion that reverberated across the country—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.

In American Lightning, acclaimed author Howard Blum masterfully evokes the incredible circumstances that led to the original “crime of the century”—and an aftermath more dramatic than even the crime itself.

With smoke still wafting up from the charred ruins, the city’s mayor reacts with undisguised excitement when he learns of the arrival, only that morning, of America’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.

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—labor activists with an apparent grudge against the Los Angeles Times’s fiercely anti-union owner—of not just one heinous deed but of being part of a terror wave involving hundreds of bombings.

While preparation is laid for America’s highest profile trial ever—and the forces of labor and capital wage hand-to-hand combat in the streets—two other notable figures are swept into the drama: industry-shaping ﬁlmmaker 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.

Simultaneously offering the absorbing reading experience of a can’t-put-it-down thriller and the perception-altering resonance of a story whose reverberations continue even today, American Lightning is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.

Customer Reviews: Read 75 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

An intriguing tale... December 1, 2008
...too bad it wasn't a novel.

Such an immense project, the retelling of this important interlude in America's history. And the amount of effort that clearly went into it...staggering.

But considering how great the story is, with all of its modern parallels...and with the recent election, and the epithet 'socialism' being bandied about relentless, how apropos this chunklet of history is...it runs out of gas before it reaches its destination.

And it's a shame. Because if the author had taken a truly non-fiction route, I'm sure that a great book would have resulted. Conversely, if Mr. Blum had been a novelist befitting the subject t (and really, he's nothing of the sort, his talents are not narrative and dialogue), then again, the result would have shone. As it is, 'American Lightning' is neither...and therefore what's on the page suffers.

Still, what an intriguing film this would make...

2 out of 5 stars

Not a history buff November 26, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I am not a history buff so I found parts of this book to be similar to reading a text book. The book is well written but I think I will stick to more fiction and sci fi for my future reads.

5 out of 5 stars

Murderous Scandal at the Turn of the Century November 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This outstanding historical novel takes the reader on a fascinating journey back in time to a forgotten time and place - turn of the century America. Howard Blum's book follows renowned detective Billy Burns furtively across an America flirting with all-out class warfare as he tries to solve what Americans called 'the crime of the century'. (Obviously, Americans had no idea what was in store for them later.) Burns, like all the other protagonists of the story, is a self-made man in a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred form of raw capitalism. It was the apogee of the robber barons.

Blum's real-life characters, Billy Burns, D.W. Griffith, Clarence Darrow, and Harrison Otis, not only find themselves in the midst of great social upheaval, but they also, in their own way, shaped American society as well. Whether it's the craftiness of Burns, the vision of Griffith, the grit of Otis, or the trials of Darrow, all the characters are truly believable with convincing dialogue as well. After reading the book, you'll feel like you know each one.

In America the atmosphere is white hot, as strident labor and ruthless management are dangerously close to breaking out into all-our class warfare. Burns is hired by the Los Angeles to find out who bombed Harrison Otis' LA Times building (incidentally horrifically burning dozens of people to death). Was it the labor unions? Anarchists? Or perhaps Otis himself to give an excuse to crush the union movement? Or was it merely an accident? (Gas lighting - along with attendant, occasional explosions - was common at the time.)

I highly recommend this book to any history or crime novel enthusiast.

4 out of 5 stars

Interesting, but a bit uneven. November 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

American Lightning gets off to a great start with the bombing of the office of the Los Angeles Times in October 1910, and the introduction of three major players in the story: D.W. Griffith, Billy Burns, and Clarence Darrow. Perhaps the most interesting story is that of Billy Burns, the detective who was hired to discover the parties responsible for the bombing and bring them to justice. Enter Darrow, who defended those responsible J.J. and Jim MacNamara. As a sideline, Blum recounts the development of the motion picture industry by following the career of D. W. Griffith. Although this sideline is interesting -- and Griffith's path does cross those of Burns and Darrow on occasion -- this thread does not really seem relevant to the story Blum wants to focus on: the bombing of the Los Angeles Times offices. Griffith's story is almost an after-thought, and drops out of the narrative once the trial begins, to be picked up at the end of the book. I have to wonder whether American Lightning would have benefited from the removal of this thread, as it only slows the story down.

3 out of 5 stars

THREE'S A CROWD November 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

AMERICAN LIGHTNING would be a better book and a better piece of history-writing if Howard Blum had limited himself to giving the reader the portrait of just one American original from the early 20th century instead of three. He should have followed Simon Winchester's example by focusing on the most obscure of the three: William Burns, the greatest detective of his time, founder of a nationwide detective agency that bore his name, and President Harding's choice to head the Bureau of Investigation -- predecessor of the FBI. Instead he tosses in D W Griffith and Clarence Darrow for good measure, following their careers to the single time all three men happened to be in the same room.

Blum would have us believe the three were intertwined in the "crime of the century" the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910. The connections seem pretty thin to this reader. Burns is credited for solving the crime and Darrow was involved in the trial of the men indicted on Burns' evidence. D W Griffith was making movies in Los Angeles at the time and met both men.

Burns, himself, is a fascinating enough character to build a book around. Blum might have left out Griffith entirely and treated Darrow as a supporting character. That would have left him enough space to tell the story of Burns' ulitmate downfall in the Teapot Dome scandal.

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