American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century

This book is excellent when focused on the central mystery of the horrible 1911 explosion of the Los Angeles Times building that left 21 people dead, the war between unions and capitalists, and the topsy-turvy court case that followed. Much of the book follows the efforts--outright unconstitutional at times--of the "American Sherlock Holmes," William J. Burns as he pursues justice.

Where the book falters in a major way, though, is in how it markets itself: Terror, Mystery, & the Birth of Hollywood. The narrative wanders to follow D.W. Griffith and how he changed the way films were made through new techniques and marketable stars like Mary Pickford. It simply does not fit with the main plot. This is especially frustrating for me because show more I picked it up for the Hollywood angle, and while I was fascinated by the real life detective work and court case, I can't help but feel like I was terribly mislead. Judging by other reviews, I am certainly not the only one to feel this way. show less

I'm not one for Historical Narratives, so I wasn't really sure of what I would find in this novel. Turned out it was exactly what I suspected, and why I'm not into Historical Narratives.

Even with my initial apprehension I was initially drawn to this novel by the mention of Clarence Darrow, D.W. Griffith, Samuel Gompers, and Billy Burns (Frankly, I had never heard of Burns before this book). I guess my knowledge of American history is, sadly, lacking. I had no idea that these persons had any professional interaction, or that there was a Trial of the Century well before anyone ever heard of O.J. Simpson.

The book deals with the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910, killing 21 people; the hunt for the person responsible, and show more their subsequent trial. The bombing, as the book points out in detail, was a direct result of a intense nationwide conflict between wealthy business owners, Capitalists, and labor, which was significantly influenced by the Socialist movement. Seems pertinent for me to point to a quote by Edmund Burke, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." But, what do I know.

The book is full of interesting facts that attempt to describe the feelings and attitudes of early twentieth century American. Things that I did not know or, clearly, did not understand. The book was interesting and informative, just not entertaining. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it wasn't worth reading. From a historical point of view, it was great. As entertainment, which is important to me, it was somewhat lacking. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Overall, it's a good book. As others have said, it is better when the story is about the investigation into the bombing at the LA Times. Then it's gripping and a edge-of-your-seat mystery. The DW Griffith/Hollywood sections seem to belong to another book and really seem to be out of place in this story.

This was a story involving domestic terrorism at the beginning of the 20th century. The key case involved labor union leaders planting dynamite time bombs around the country, targeting anti-union sites. I was struck by the similar behaviors of the guilty parties then and now. At that time, when the union terrorists were tracked down and accused, union leaders and loyalists, with no knowlege of the crimes, immediately denied involvement, and accused the investigators of planting evidence or outright lying to hurt the union cause. It reminds me of the accusations against the police in the OJ case, the accusations of al-Qaeda leaders accusing U.S. troops of atrocities, the Ahmadinejad of Iraq denying muslim involvement in the 9/11 show more terrorist attacks, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich denying his corruption, and so many other politicians denying wrong-doing and instead accusing their accusors. People love conspiracy theories, and are all too eager to believe the accused instead inspite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Must be human nature. Anyway, it was an interesting look back at the era. show less

I enjoyed Blum's American Lightning, especially in his portrayal of life in the early 1900s. I felt, like other reviewers, that the first half of the book was stronger than the second half, as the detective closes in and the trial takes place. Blum had to walk the narrow line of providing biographies of three different men and then linking together in their final meeting, and I thought that he accomplished this in a readable fashion. The book was easy and quick to read, and at times I yearned for more detail, for more lingering, and more details in certain sections, especially in the early movie industry of D. 'W. Griffeth. However, the book was an entertaining, engaging read that brought to light many details in early 19th century America.

The Players:

William "Billy" Burns: destined to be the first director of the FBI.

Clarence Darrow: destined to be known as, possibly, the greatest trial lawyer in American history.

D.W. Griffith: destined to direct the first true motion picture epic.

In American Lightning, author Howard Blum interweaves two years in the lives of these three men, brought together by an all but forgotten moment in history. The 1910, early morning bombing of the L.A. Times office building, that killed an estimated 21 men.

Mr. Blum is able to bring this story together in a way that reads almost as a fictional story. He uses his extensive research of newspaper articles and autobiographies of the men involved and those involved in their lives to access actual show more dialogue during what at the time was "The Crime of the Century".

But, lest you think Burns, Darrow and Griffith are the only players, there is a deeper story in these pages.

We know the What? When? Where? and How? of this crime. The unanswered questions are Who? and Why?

Who?: J.J. McNamara and his very loyal brother Jim McNamara, among others.

Why?: Socialists vs. Capitalists

Unions were at their height. Men working for and fighting against the business owners in order to feed their families and own a bit of the American dream. It seemed a time when the rich were getting richer and the middle class was loosing ground.

And this takes us to an even deeper story in American Lightning. The parallels of this particular time period and this specific crime to America today. Blum doesn't hit the reader over the head with this apparent show of "history repeating itself", but it's a hard theme to miss. He does go into complete detail in his final entry, "A Note On Sources". The author explains this far more eloquently than I could ever hope, so I'll not try.

All that said, this is also a very entertaining book.

Detective William Burns is a character, in the truest sense of the word. He is a man who has no compunction when it comes to the blurring of legal lines if it means the difference between getting or not getting his man, or his money, or his fame.

Attorney Clarence Darrow is an unusually depressed man, seemingly always on the side of the underdog and fighting to exhaustion even if he doesn't entirely agree with the circumstances.

Film-maker D.W. Griffith, having resentfully fallen into moving pictures, is a lecherous man, to but it kindly, who spared no time in making the absolute most of what he believed was a terrible situation.

In the end, American Lightning is a book well worth the read for the purpose of both entertainment and education. show less