Thunderstruck Hardcover – October 24, 2006

What a fantastic book! I've been struck down by the flu and had to spend several days in bed. This book was my companion. As miserable as I feel, this book made me forget about my symptoms. I was enthralled by the story and had to constantly remind myself this was non-fiction. A lot of the negative reviews this book has received claim that Mr.Larsen went into too much detail about Marconi and his experiments. I beg to differ. I have no knowledge of the intricacies of electricity or how waves travel but found the information easy to understand and relevant to the story. I also think the book was well organized. The transfer between the stories of Marconi and Crippen are done well. I was interested in both stories, not just the gruesome details of the murder, which does not present itself until late in the book. This is a book that is both engaging and informative. Highly recommended.

This is the third book of Erik Larson that I have read. All of his books, including this one, are highly researched and easy to read. If you can only choose one of his books to read, I would say by far, his book "Devil in the White City" is his best.Thunderstruck, uses the same format as the "Devil in the White City", where he interweaves two stories together. One story is about Marconi, who invented the wireless. The other story is about Dr. Crippen, who murdered his wife. The two stories are connected because Marconi's wireless is used to capture Dr. Crippen as he tried to escape to America.First let me talk about the Marconi part of the book. As stated above, Erik Larson does an amazing job researching this book. He has a "Notes and Sources" section at the end of the book, where he shows his sources. For the first half of the book, I was riveted to the Marconi story. Mr. Larson does a great job explaining how Marconi created the wireless, how he tried to improve on the wireless, and how other people also claimed credit for creating the wireless before Marconi. This story at times drags though in the second half of the book. Mr Larson tries to write about all of his research, an at times it felt that what he was saying was not advancing the story. It felt repetitive at times, even though the event happened at three different locations.Just an FYI, Mr. Larson sometimes goes on historical tangents. Usually I found these tangents extremely entertaining and informative. But I can see some readers finding them unnecessary for the story. But please note, I am extremely happy he put them into the book.The other part of the book is about Dr. Crippen. For the first half of the book I found this part of the story somewhat boring. Once Dr. Crippen meets Ethel, the story become really interesting. If you are looking to read about a sick and devious murderer, this is not the book for you. Dr. Crippen and Ethel seem like really nice people, while his wife is not that likeable.One thing the reader needs to take account is this murder actually happen, and it occurred in the early 1900's. No matter how well Mr. Larson investigated this story, he couldn't find all of the answers. He can't go into the mind of Dr. Crippen, he can only state the facts as he know them. Thus some aspects of the murder, Mr. Larson can't explain. He will give different theories, but he can't say for sure how the murder went down.Also, some actions of Dr. Crippen really confused me as a reader. Here is an example of the one that bothers me the most. His wife always was threatening to leave him, and telling him that other men would wan't her in a minute. She even takes steps in terms of leaving him. Why did Dr. Crippen not just leave his wife. instead of murdering her? Mr. Larson as an historical writer can't answer that question, but it is a question that really bothers me.The reason I gave this book 4 stars is that the story about Dr. Crippen is boring for the 1st half of the book. And sometimes the author goes overboard about Marconi. A good editor should have seen this problem and fixed it. Thus I recommend this book, with those small caveats.

Entertaining beyond all reason, Erik Larson tells parallel tales of obsession, genius, myopia, accomplishment (and its sacrifices). The book serves as the definitive, astonishingly compelling, detailed and surprising life of Guglielmo Marconi, ultimately (at last?) credited as the inventor of wireless communication, an invention that would profoundly change the world. His inspiration, desperation, obsession, his perhaps unprecedented self-belief, as well as his deep-seeded terror of competitors, drove him relentlessly on. Not a scientist. Self-educated. He, and his "wireless" was quite beyond his life's work. It was his life. Of equal appeal is the unraveling of one of the most compelling murders in British history, of which I will say little. Just make SURE you read through the last page! This is indeed an historical account - an almost maniacally researched one - that reads like a novel, a thriller, a procedural. It is exceedingly entertaining. As well as a profound achievement of his own. Larson' prose is crystal clear, filled with amusement, and amusing details, and he creates characters of many dimensions, impulses, quirks, and oddities. A great read.

Erik Larsen is an admirable researcher and tension builder as he was in the boffo 'Devil in the White City'. I loved learning about Marconi, a fascinatingly complex individual and the amazing Dr. Crippen. The tale bogged down in the middle but it sure caught fire when Belle disappeared. Another amazing chapter in history masterfully told.Note on Larson's research: He doesn't just provide a fact, he shows his relentless research in things like the cat used in the forensics study of Belle. He not only knew the cat's name but that it survived and was adopted by a medical assistant, had a littler of kittens and was done in by a dog. He doesn't do research by halves.

Hubby liked it a lot more than I. It's definitely a good book, and a fascinating story, but VERY gory in parts that I just had to overlook. But the book should have been titled "Marconi and Crippen" because that's what it's about. In fact, the chapters go like this: one chapter, Marconi, next chapter, Crippen," and so forth, jumping back and forth like leapfrog. To me, it was extremely irritating because (1) we couldn't get the connection between the two, and (2) the chapters endings keep you dangling, and by the time the reader gets around to the next chapter with the dangling ending, he forgets what it was all about! For me, I had to give it 4 stars instead of 5, but if hubby was reviewing this book instead of me, he would give it 5 stars for sure. He found the historical information about Marconi absolutely fascinating; me, not so much (I'm just not into telegraphy, sorry). I did like the historical background, however, with Winston Churchill and Teddy Roosevelt getting involved. Bottom line: we loved the reader's style (except for the alternating chapter thing), so we ordered another of his books. Darn, I'm so tempted to change my score to five stars . . .

A fascinating piece of social and technical history, well written and with occasional moments of levity. Erik Larson's repeated the device of interleaving two stories together like his previous book, but it doesn't quite work as cleanly this time round.There, the 'White City' as a human construct, built to highlight the brightest of men's achievements, serves as an unknowing and unwilling lure to the deadly and dark ensnarement of 'The Devil' - Almost a case of "The brighter the light, the darker the shade"; In this book the tales of Marconi and Crippen are also related in parallel, but in a slightly hazy chronological order sometimes, and the two stories really only touch, make contact, at the end.It doesn't make it any less satisfying which is why I've given it a 5*, and it's fascinating to read about people's incredulous amazement that any kind of messages could be sent through the ether (given how wireless technology in all its forms is absolutely embedded in our civilisation, just a hundred or so years later).On a total side-note, years ago I'd read a book about the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, captained by Henry Kendall - It was interesting to get a glimpse into his eventful past and the part he played in the capture of Dr Crippen.

Two very different stories, one a tale of betrayal, intrigue and murder and the other the crackling history of the development of radio transmission, but melted together in this third delicious offering from historian and writer Erik Larson.Larson's other books have stuck to a winning formula, and he does not deviate from this simple framework for Thunderstruck. In the Devil and the White City the story of the Chicago World Fair, and the awesome demonstration of science and technology that went with it, was narrated alongside the gruesome story of mass murderer [ ]. In the Drowning of Galveston the nascent science of meteorology was tested and found flawed with devastating consequences, and again Larson wove a story of technological progress around human suffering.In Thunderstruck the technological progress takes the starring role. The main thrust of this book is the story of radio waves, wireless telegraphy and the intriguing personalities that developed them. This is the story of Marconi, Fleming, Lodge and Tesler in an age where the transmission of messages through the ether to once isolated ships seemed as miraculous as the psychic and metaphysical demonstrations of mediums that fascinated late Victorian England.But once again Larson ties the story of progress with something darker. In this case it is the case of Dr Crippen, his domineering and eventually dismembered wife Belle and Ethel Le Neve, his mysterious mistress. Most people will be familiar with the story of Crippen, the body in the basement and his eventual capture by use of wireless telegraphy. This is the connections that binds the two stories.What makes Larson such an enjoyable and consummate writer of historical prose is his gift with the language, his ability to pace the stories to gripping, electric finishes and the diligent research which ensures he is able to inject life and interest into the past.Anyone who has read any of his previous work and enjoyed them will be well served by this latest offering. Any one unfamiliar with Larson, but who enjoys deliciously well written history, would be advised to give them a go.Would give 4.5, but obviously the Amazon rating system won't allow this!

Erik Larson tells the stories of Marconi and Crippen up to and after the point at which their lives intersected. It is an unusual method of story telling and I quite like it. It enables him to describe the times in which both men lived rather well.

Like historical relevance and info.

Two amazingly interesting stories intertwined and told in the usual descriptive wonder and historical accuracy that only Larson can provide.