About this title: A masterpiece of narrative history that vividly brings to life the original crime of the century, "American Lightning" shows the lasting impact the 1910 bombing of the "Los Angeles Times" offices had on three remarkable individuals and, through them, the country itself. b&w photo insert.
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Fine. 0307346943 Paperback Considered as uncorrected first edition copy, possibly collectible. A little shelf wear/scratching on outer covers, light wear on spine. Perfect otherwise. Free bookmarks with all orders and all orders ship same or next business day! 363. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown
Date Published: 2008-09-16
ISBN-13:9780307346940ISBN:0307346943
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. VG/VG. Very Good Hardcover book with Very Good Dust Jacket. Binding tight and straight. Pages clean and unmarked. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307346940ISBN:0307346943
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 339 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. Former Library book. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Illustrated.1st printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307346940ISBN:0307346943
Description: New in new dust jacket. bright shiny brand new condition, Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 339 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown Forum
Date Published: 2008-09-16
ISBN-13:9780307346940ISBN:0307346943
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780307346940. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307346940ISBN:0307346943
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780307346940ISBN:0307346943
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. First Edition. FIRST EDITION STATED, Spine boards and pages intact, pages clean and crisp with no markings noted, binding tight, spine ends gently bumped, dust jacket has minor wear at spine edge, endpapers printed, includes black and white photo reproductions, Gilt lettering on spine. We ship promptly. Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. Satisfaction guaranteed. Your purchase benefits the students and libraries at Brandeis University. Thank you. read more
Description: Good. 0307346943 NO DUST COVER. Ex-library book with usual markings. Clean text. SATISF GNTD + SHIPS W/IN 24 HRS. Sorry, no APO deliveries. Ships in a padded envelope with free tracking. 63, 831y. read more
"I read this book right after Blum's Gold of Exodus, and this is a much more satisfying read. 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 interested about the history of labor unions and their fight against capitalism, plus I grew up in LA, so this book was right up my alley. Compelling, a page turner, and all true to boot. History doesn't get much better than this."
"Written in quasi novel style, this is about one of the original acts of domestic terrorism in the US when the LA Times building was blown to bits in 1910 killing 21 people and injuring many more. In covering this event, Howard Blum weaves a great detective story featuring the "American Sherlock Holmes" William J Burns around the twin pillars of the rise of Hollywood and the escalation of the violence between capital and labor that gripped the early 20th century (The Soviet Union revolutoin would occur a decade after the bombing). The LA Times was blown up as its owner was committed anti-union. Burns arrives on the bomb scene and over time uncovers a national terrorist conspiracy led by extreme elements within labor that lands in a trial room drama featuring a philandering Clarence Darrow--who then has to face the music on jury tampering and bribery charge after the trial. My one thought after reading this book, was my amazement that I'd never heard this story before, or that a movie hasn't been made about it. It's grand in ambition and at its best when zeroing in on Burn's amazing detective work and the organized labor violence that occurred in the early 20th century...some have hammered this book as superficial and tangential in its incorporation of certain story elements. I disagree, and think readers should pick interesting elements from this to pursue in more depth with the benefit of context. No historical event lives in isolation. Historical lines run deep and across."
"There are three men whose lives are chronicled in this historical narrative, and the most interesting is Billy Burns, the American Sherlock Holmes. He solves the mystery of the terrorist bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910. The last part of the book is about the lawyer Clarence Darrow, who defended the bombers responsible. This part is not as good as the investigation leading up to it. The third character is seminal filmmaker D. W. Griffith, whose movies changed the art of cinema at the time. While interesting in it's own right, his part of the story is only indirectly related to the central crime story."
"I love history written as narrative (ala In Cold Blood by Truman Capote) and this book is written exactly that way. The last book I read (The Old Buzzard Had It Coming) was set in rural Oklahoma about 1910. This book is set in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Chicago and all points in between in 1910. But, the contrast couldn't be more stark, American Lightening focuses on the ways that the world is changing - big business is rising to the top in money on the backs of workers, unions are fighting back by striking and then by violence. When the LA Times newspaper building is destroyed and 21 people killed it becomes an all out war. Private Detective William (Billy) Burns (called the American Sherlock Holmes) is hired to find out who destroyed the paper. D.W. Griffith is busy building a career that will launch the movie business in Hollywood and will become *the* early pioneer in films longer than 10 minutes. Clarence Darrow will be called upon to defend the men accused of the bombing. How the lives of these three very powerful men become entwined is a fascinating look at life at the turn of the Century, how it was changing for better and for worse and what the struggles between big business and labor can do to a country. It is a fascinating study of a part of history I knew little about."
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