About this title: The bestselling author of "The Devil in the White City" tells the amazing, interwoven stories of two men--Hawley Crippen, a doctor and an unlikely murderer, and Gugliemo Marconi, the obsessive genius who invented the wireless--whose stories converge during the greatest criminal chase of all time.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9781400080663ISBN:1400080665
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 463 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781400080670ISBN:1400080673
Description: Very Good. First Edition. First printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Slight cover wear with minor scuffing to edges. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781400080670ISBN:1400080673
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. Return Policy Any defects, damages, or material differences with your item, must be reported to us within 7 days of receipt of the item or 30 days from date of shipment. The returned merchandise must be postmarked within 30 days of the shipment notification. Non-deliveries must be reported ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9781400080670ISBN:1400080673
Description: Acceptable. A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes-in pen or highlighter-but the notes cannot obscure the text. Return Policy Any defects, damages, or material differences with your item, must be reported to us within 7 days of receipt of the item or 30 days from date of shipment. The returned merchandise must be postmarked within 30 days of the shipment notification. Non-deliveries must be reported ... read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"... tells the interwoven stories of two men -- Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of seemingly supernatural means of communication -- whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time."
I enjoyed this book very much. The story track of Marconi and his pursuit of making wireless telegraph a reality was interesting, even for a non-scientific person like me. By 2/3 through the book, I was skimming through meticulous details.
The concurrent story of mild, meek, Dr. Hawley Crippen, dominated by his brash, demanding, eccentric wife was engrossing and simply delicious. The author slowly develops the details of the marriage as the years go by, leaving the reader wondering how poor Mr. Crippen could possibly put up with Belle for one more hour. He is a very sympathetic character, and I was so glad for him when he found happiness. But in order to gain his freedom, a grisley murder comes to light and we see a *very* different side of this quiet, polite, long-suffering man.
I had never heard of this notorious murder, which the author states was close to as sensational as the Jack the Ripper murders at the time (early 1900's).
I enjoyed the details of history in many areas (scientific history, world history, the Edwardian period of England) that were woven into this book.
When the two storylines finally collide -- what excitement!
Erik Larson's The Devil in White City was a similarly highly exciting and memorable read."
"This one's a treat. Thunderstruck reads like a gripping detective thriller while imparting fabulous historical information. Larson's ability to illustrate the place in time in which the events take place is extraordinary. My biggest problem in history class was realizing the simultaneity of events occurring in different parts of the world and how they affected each other. Larson's engaging narrative style and incredible research makes this story make sense above and beyond all expectations.
I would love to have seen more pictures. Larson's a guy who will describe a picture to you, which is groovy, but it would have added to the narrative, I think, to be able to see more of these people he's talking about. The pics at the beginning of each section of the book were good but more would have been better.
I borrowed this copy from my pal, Ben, who had tucked a November 2006 Vanity Fair article into the back which had more pictures, including very clear photos of Le Neve, Crippen and Kendall, reproductions of related newspaper items and a photo of Belle's burial site! Good ol' Vanity Fair!
I've read three of Larson's books and would read anything else by him. Highly recommended!"
"First off, while this is an interesting and engaging story, it is not the top-notch book that was Devil in the White City. Here, Larson tells a parallel tale of Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless, and Hawley Crippen, a relative nobody who gained infamy by doing away with his wife. Where they intersect is when the new-fangled wireless machine is used to track the fleeing killer and his mistress as they cross the Atlantic in a passenger liner. Larson is excellent at imparting a sense of a time, here 1910 in London and various locations in Europe and North America. There is much information here about Marconi as a person, a scientist, a suitor, husband and father, and a businessman. While Marconi's name may stand out to us today through the foggy details of history, there were several other individuals whose scientific investigations were also critical to the development of wireless communication. The politics, the legal and business scheming that went into the wireless make for a fun read. But, while Crippen and his pursuit by Scotland Yard may have represented the 1910 predecessor to helicopters trailing the white Bronco, Crippen seems such a minor presence as to stand out purely as literary device by which Larson can tell us about the time.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the book. Larson is a gifted writer and he clearly takes delight in presenting us with a smorgasbord of details of the day. You will learn things you did not know before. There is considerable visual imagery that makes one yearn for a skilled film director to be on call. It is only when comparing it to Devil in the White City that it...um... pales."
"Larson has a gift for making history seem stranger than fiction, but then again, history often is. Although the story is full of dates, facts, and details, it easily holds the reader's attention--that is, most of the time. At some points, however, usually those involving scientists squabbling and griping about each other, I found myself skimming ahead. The book traces the marriages and fortunes of two men, Guglielmo Marconi and Dr. Crippen, a murderer made world-infamous by Marconi's invention, the wireless. Sad to say, by the end I found Crippen to be a more sympathetic character than Marconi, a self-absorbed Type AA workaholic. But since I knew virtually nothing of Marconi's work before I started this book, I found the story of his long search for a viable way to transmit messages via radio waves fascinating, if not a bit exhausting. Thunderstruck provides an intimate look into middle- and upper-class life during the turn of the last century, a period in which dizzying changes made by technology, especially in transportation and communication, took place. In this age of TV and cell phones, inventions developed from Marconi's wireless, it's interesting to examine some of the hard work and experimentation required to get to where we are today."
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