Thunderstruck

At times slow-going, but the riveting period detail and dramatic flair eventually render this tale an animated history lesson.

Erik Larson has done it again. In “Thunderstruck,” just as in his last book, “The Devil in the White City,” he has taken an unlikely historical subject and spun it into gold.

Both the Marconi and the Crippen stories have been told several times before and, taken singly, could not perhaps bear another outing. However, wrapped around each other like a kind of double helix, they give us a richer picture of Edwardian London than could ever be managed if each stood alone.

...a fascinating, well-researched and well-written, thought-provoking look...Much of “Thunderstruck” deals with the running corporate battle between Marconi and his competitors...