Thunderstruck

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 murder.

With his unparalleled narrative skills, Erik Larson guides us through a relentlessly suspenseful chase over 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.

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480 pages

Average rating: 6.37

19 RATINGS

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2 REVIEWS

Community Reviews

AlexCruse
Jan 03, 2023
6/10 stars
3 stars.

This was a solid read. Not as strong as Larson's recent works but follows the general design so many love about "The Devil in the White City." I enjoyed reading about Marconi, wireless communication, and all of the drama that ensued while also reading about Dr. Crippen. I was definitely more interested in the Crippen pieces than the Marconi but it was all interesting and I appreciated the build-up to the great intersection of both.

I do think this work could have gone in with a lighter hand when discussing literally any woman, but particularly Crippen's victim. The way Crippen's wife was discussed throughout, painted her as a woman who deserved to die so her husband could be happy with his typist. Even how Marconi's wife is discussed and Crippen's mistress had a tinge of misogyny. Misogyny and strict gender roles were very much a way of life when these events took place but writing them as such needn't be required to convey time and place. This irked me throughout my time with this book.
MomQueenBee
May 20, 2022
Fascinating juxtaposition of true crime and momentous scientific event.

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