I am not a history buff so I found parts of this book to be similar to reading a text book. The book is well written but I think I will stick to more fiction and sci fi for my future reads.

This outstanding historical novel takes the reader on a fascinating journey back in time to a forgotten time and place - turn of the century America. Howard Blum's book follows renowned detective Billy Burns furtively across an America flirting with all-out class warfare as he tries to solve what Americans called 'the crime of the century'. (Obviously, Americans had no idea what was in store for them later.) Burns, like all the other protagonists of the story, is a self-made man in a rough-and-tumble, no-holds-barred form of raw capitalism. It was the apogee of the robber barons.

Blum's real-life characters, Billy Burns, D.W. Griffith, Clarence Darrow, and Harrison Otis, not only find themselves in the midst of great social upheaval, but they also, in their own way, shaped American society as well. Whether it's the craftiness of Burns, the vision of Griffith, the grit of Otis, or the trials of Darrow, all the characters are truly believable with convincing dialogue as well. After reading the book, you'll feel like you know each one.

In America the atmosphere is white hot, as strident labor and ruthless management are dangerously close to breaking out into all-our class warfare. Burns is hired by the Los Angeles to find out who bombed Harrison Otis' LA Times building (incidentally horrifically burning dozens of people to death). Was it the labor unions? Anarchists? Or perhaps Otis himself to give an excuse to crush the union movement? Or was it merely an accident? (Gas lighting - along with attendant, occasional explosions - was common at the time.)

I highly recommend this book to any history or crime novel enthusiast.

AMERICAN LIGHTNING would be a better book and a better piece of history-writing if Howard Blum had limited himself to giving the reader the portrait of just one American original from the early 20th century instead of three. He should have followed Simon Winchester's example by focusing on the most obscure of the three: William Burns, the greatest detective of his time, founder of a nationwide detective agency that bore his name, and President Harding's choice to head the Bureau of Investigation -- predecessor of the FBI. Instead he tosses in D W Griffith and Clarence Darrow for good measure, following their careers to the single time all three men happened to be in the same room.

Blum would have us believe the three were intertwined in the "crime of the century" the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910. The connections seem pretty thin to this reader. Burns is credited for solving the crime and Darrow was involved in the trial of the men indicted on Burns' evidence. D W Griffith was making movies in Los Angeles at the time and met both men.

Burns, himself, is a fascinating enough character to build a book around. Blum might have left out Griffith entirely and treated Darrow as a supporting character. That would have left him enough space to tell the story of Burns' ulitmate downfall in the Teapot Dome scandal.

American Lightning gets off to a great start with the bombing of the office of the Los Angeles Times in October 1910, and the introduction of three major players in the story: D.W. Griffith, Billy Burns, and Clarence Darrow. Perhaps the most interesting story is that of Billy Burns, the detective who was hired to discover the parties responsible for the bombing and bring them to justice. Enter Darrow, who defended those responsible J.J. and Jim MacNamara. As a sideline, Blum recounts the development of the motion picture industry by following the career of D. W. Griffith. Although this sideline is interesting -- and Griffith's path does cross those of Burns and Darrow on occasion -- this thread does not really seem relevant to the story Blum wants to focus on: the bombing of the Los Angeles Times offices. Griffith's story is almost an after-thought, and drops out of the narrative once the trial begins, to be picked up at the end of the book. I have to wonder whether American Lightning would have benefited from the removal of this thread, as it only slows the story down.

If it weren't for books like American Lightning, I'd probably still be a prisoner of a Pavlovian loathing of history instilled by years of deathly-dull date-memorizing history classes. Fortunately, toward the end of high school, Gore Vidal [...] into his novel, Burr: A Novel. I've been hooked ever since.

American Lightning is not a novel, but narrative non-fiction. In a novel, the author is free to embroider at will, to create fictional characters and story-lines around the truth. In narrative non-fiction, there's far less leeway. There are no fictional characters, but the author can make logical assumptions about conversations and motives. Eric Larson's fabulous The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America is an example of narrative non-fiction that includes much conjecture -- and that's why I say it's fabulous. It's a five-star read.

American Lightning extrapolates far less and jumps around more in an effort to tie its three main characters - detective Billy Burns, filmmaker DW Griffith, and lawyer Clarence Darrow together. I'd might have given it only three stars because it reads more like non-fiction than entertainment, but the relevance of the story makes it something I'm very glad I read, nudging it toward a fifth star.

The book is about domestic terrorism between labor and capitalists and centers on the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times building and the search for and trial of the killers. The impact of Biograph's DW Griffith's movies parallel today's media impact on elections, and we learn that socialism is not new to America. Indeed, everything old is new again.

I'm simplifying things unmercifully, but if you want more insight into the state of affairs in America today, author Howard Blum gives an excellent view. Burns, Griffith and Darrow are fascinating and lively characters.

If Griffith and early movie-making fascinate you, check out the novel, The Biograph Girl by William J Mann. It's terrific.

As for the ever-fascinating Clarence Darrow, the character Billy Flynn in Chicago (Widescreen Edition) is, in part, based on him. You know, another charismatic Chicago lawyer with a gift for the language.

People who are purists concerning history will not enjoy this type of narrative, but for many of us, it's an entertaining way to pick up some facts and actually retain them.

Howard Blum's American Ligntning offers scant plot, but big historical anecdotes. Mr. Blum tries to tie together the activities from coast-to-coast of the movie industry, the newspaper industry and a private investigator, but it is just too much of a stretch. Although the book catches you up in the beginning, the bouncing back and forth creates a jumbled affect.

American Lightning must be a really great book. After all, it starts with a horrendous crime, the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building and the filling of 20 of its employees. It has a stellar cast of larger than life historical characters; attorney Clarence Darrow, director D.W. Griffith, journalist Lincoln Steffens and former secret service agent and detective Bill Burns whose real-life exploits served as the model for Wild Wild West's Jim West. It even ties in the birth of the motion picture industry and the Machiavellian scheming and plots involved in the efforts to get water to the rapidly-growing city of Los Angeles.

Even so, I found it somewhat of a letdown. I really enjoyed Burns' description of how he tracked down, hoodwinked, and captured the suspects and how he meticulously went about putting his case together. Unfortunately, once they were behind bars the plot slowed considerably. I was really expecting Clarence Darrow to come in and pull some Perry Mason magic but that is far from what happened. The Clarence Darrow we see in American Lightning is a shambling shadow of the brilliant litigator that history has portrayed him as. D.W. Griffith's role in the story is tenuous at best but he still adds color to the narrative.

All in all it is a pretty good story. If it were fiction I would have expected a different ending from Blum but such is the curse of a historical writer.

When I was growing up and attending California public schools, the accepted California historical narrative was something like: Spanish missions, gold rush, statehood, citrus, motion picture business, Okies, World War II, aerospace industry, Disneyland.

Indigenous people, water politics, oil extraction, labor unrest, corporate misconduct, and political corruption were left out of the story.

American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century fills in some of the blank spots in that history and can be interesting reading for for those of us curious about the turn-of-the-century decade when events transpired and enterprises were undertaken which shaped Southern California for the next 50 years.

I found the book somewhat enlightening and learned some things about the times (and The Times) and the principal figures I didn't know before.

I have to agree, however, with other reviewers who don't think the book works well as an historical narration. I think I might have enjoyed the experience of the book more if were either a straight-up history with explanation and analyses or as a full-on novel where the characters and events of "American Lightning" drive a plot involving fictional characters (Ragtime, for example). As a novel, it might have been easier to weave someone like D.W.Griffith into a main story where his connection is tenuous at best.

Superlatives are cast with great ease. How many times have sportswriters told us we are watching the game of the season or perhaps the decade? How often are political events described as the most monumental of our generation? How many legal battles have been labeled the "crime of the century?" This is not to be critical of Howard Blum's AMERICAN LIGHTNING but instead to place the engaging historical narrative of the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building on October 1, 1910 and the ensuing trial of the alleged participants in a more appropriate context.

Los Angeles in 1910 was a far different community than the entertainment center of the world that it is today. Its population of 319,000 placed the city behind Baltimore, Milwaukee and Newark. The movie industry was in its infant stage. California was the hotbed of American socialism, and the union movement was struggling to gain a foothold in California life industry. The battle between union and management would be shattered by an explosion on the morning of October 1st that decimated the Times building and left 20 men dead. Perhaps because the attack was on the newspaper industry, the media treated the event as a crime of enormous magnitude.

AMERICAN LIGHTNING is far more than the story of the bombing and the subsequent trial of brothers J.J. and Jim McNamara. The investigation, arrest and trial of the McNamaras represented another battle in the war being waged in the early 20th century between business and labor. Similar battles across the land involved union leaders Eugene Debs and William Hayward.

Blum is not content to simply describe the events surrounding the bombing. He has expanded the narrative by examining the lives of three men, two who played a major role in the bombing and one who helped create the modern cinema industry. William J. Burns, recognized in 1910 as "the greatest detective of perhaps that or any era," and Attorney Clarence Darrow would be prominent actors in the case. Director D. W. Griffith would play no actual role here, but in 1913 he released From Dusk to Dawn, a film loosely based on the case. Griffith actually had assisted Burns in a prior investigation by arranging for the showing of a movie that encouraged a confession from a suspect Burns was investigating.

Burns investigated the crime by techniques that did not and could not rely on the scientific methods that exist today. He worked diligently gathering evidence across the nation. Looking back on his investigation through the lens of the modern criminal law framework of defendants' rights, many of Burns's methods would not be tolerated in contemporary courtrooms. But Burns and Otis Chandler, who employed him to find the perpetrators of the bombing, could not be bothered by legal niceties. This was a war between labor and owners, and in war anything goes.

Darrow, of course one of America's prominent attorneys, had already earned a reputation in representing labor defendants in criminal cases. In later years he would gain fame for his defense of John Scopes and Leopold and Loeb. Defending the McNamara brothers was not the finest hour of his legal career. His clients both went to prison, and charges of jury tampering ultimately put Darrow in the defendant's chair in a Los Angeles courtroom.

Throughout the story, Blum paints a vivid and detailed account of an important case in American legal history. What makes AMERICAN LIGHTNING a compelling work is the author's placing of the crime in its historical context. The bombing of the Los Angeles Times building and the resulting trial can only be understood in the panoply of events occurring across the nation in the early decades of the 20th century. By his portrayal, Blum has aided readers in better understanding the events of that era and their impact on America.

--- Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman

Writing narrative nonfiction is not an easy task, and it is hard for me to say whether the author succeeded here. I found the writing hard to get through, and I found the story to be even less interesting. At times I was so bored and uninvolved with the events of the book, I found myself having to go back and re-read what I had just read. While I don't dispute that this indeed a heinous crime, I wouldn't go so far as to called it the crime of the century. I agree with another reviewer that the Lindbergh baby kidnapping is surely more "heinous"! Narrative fiction really relies upon one connecting with the subject in some way, and I didn't feel that this book did that.

As a social historian, I found the crime and the subject very interesting, especially the way in which the investigator flushes out the perpetrators but also I found that the author really connected with the historical context. The end of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century certainly must have been a tumultuous time in the United States but also in the world. Those aspects of the book (investigative techniques and historical context) are spot on, but I think that this book would have served its audience better with less narrative and a more broader "story-telling" of the events.

I think that serious history buffs and historians will reap the most benefit from this book!

I intended to read this book to pass the time during my morning commute, but eventually found myself so wrapped up in the story that I was reading it at home, at work, and wherever I happened to be.

Here's a list of the issues that struck me the most as I was reading it:

1.) There's a LOT of history in this historical thriller.
The book is incredibly well researched, and it shows. For some this is a bit of a turn-off since it reads differently than most historical novels, but it made me appreciate it even more. Knowing that these were real people and real events added a sense of urgency to the tale, and made everything seem more dramatic and urgent.

2.) The book reads like a cross between an episode of Law & Order and a documentary on the History Channel.
The story itself is a sort of hybrid murder mystery/courtroom drama, complete with a cast of evil villains and fallen heroes. The plot is complex enough to keep you interested, but not so meandering that you can't pick the book up again if you've had to stop reading it for several days.

3.) The segments with legendary filmmaker D.W. Griffith feel a bit detached from the rest of the story.
While I understand their importance in setting the scene and feel that Blum was right in including Griffith's story in this book, they felt very distanced from the central theme of the novel

4.) All history books should be like this.
Because of the excellent way this book was written I couldn't believe that I hadn't been taught about this when I was in high school or college, and I ended up spending several hours on the internet researching the characters in the book and the history surrounding the events of the 1910 bombing. If someone had handed me this book when I was in high school I would have paid a lot more attention in my history classes and might have even majored in the subject in college.


In summation, I really enjoyed this book, and I would happily recommend it to anyone, but I would PARTICULARLY recommend it to parents who have Jr. High or High School aged children who they want to get interested in history. This book does a fantastic job at making a historical event seem immediate and important, and serves as a wonderful example of how historical events can shed new light on contemporary issues.

The nucleus of Pulitzer Prize finalist Howard Blum's 'American Lightning' is the October 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles 'Times' building. From that one act of terrorism a story is spawned that includes legendary detective William J. Burns, defense attorney extraordinaire Clarence Darrow, and the early twentieth century's greatest motion picture director, D.W. Griffith. Mary Pickford even puts in an appearance. Burns works to bring the 'Times' bombers to justice, Darrow eventually steps in to save them from the noose, and Griffith churns out populist films such as 'A Corner in Wheat', which criticizes the greedy merchants who profit at the expense of the poor and working classes.

'American Lightning' is, as another reviewer accurately put it, history aimed at the popular fiction market. With its liberal use of dialogue and non-scholarly approach to the political intrigues and labour unrest that infested the 1910s, the book is an entertaining read. Because it will appeal to its intended audience, I have accorded it four stars. But I am personally uncomfortable with such a creative treatment of historic events, as it's difficult to discern what actually happened from what the author has included to make the story more vivid or smooth. I enjoyed 'American Lightning', but don't come away feeling as if I truly know what happened during the turbulent events that it covers.

I am a former Los Angeles resident, attorney (inspired as a youth, in part, by Clarence Darrow), who worked in the entertainment industry with a specialization in labor law. The confluence of these interest drew me to this book and let to my high expectations.

I am mature enough to know that Clarence Darrow was human, and not the person I idealized as an aspiring lawyer. I am also jaded enough to know that, despite the extreme inequities between management and labor at the turn of the century, many of labor's leaders (not to mention the corporate heads) were imperfect. I am also fascinated by the rough-and-tumble history of Los Angeles' emergence as a "real" city and the improbable center of the film industry.

The author bit off a complex bit of history as he researched and wove together the events surrounding the investigation and prosecution of a series of domestic terror events involving labor around the turn of the century. Unfortunately, it is told primarily from the point of view of the investigator who tracked down those responsible, but then takes a more "stepped back" journalistic point of view of the subsequent events such as the trial.

I also think that the effort to weave in the story of the birth of the film industry was a bit strained. I thought that we would learn more about the importance of unions in that industry -- after all, at this point, the unions are more powerful in the entertainment industry than most (where else do some members earn such stratospheric salaries, while most struggle to earn the minimum amounts for benefit eligibility?).

In any case, my 4 star rating is based on my disappointment that these historical elements were not more tied together. I'm not suggesting that one can make up history to make a more exciting book, I just felt that the effort to entwine these different aspects of the history of Los Angeles, locally, and the labor movement, as a national phenomenon, was a bit strained.

That said, the research is excellent, and most of the major characters appear human, with their strengths and character flaws exposed. Some of the minor participants are a bit two-dimensional, and that may be due to the lack of historical record, but the result was that I felt that some of the union leaders, entertainment people and management appeared a bit as caricatures, much as those portrayed in the early films described in the book.

Mr. Blum undoubtedly did a considerable amount of research of the historical events which form the backdrop for his novel "American Lightning." Unfortunately, however, I was not drawn in by the story nor the characters. This, perhaps, was more my failing than that of the author. By coincidence, I had just finished reading "Glimpses of Paradise," a novel by James Scott Bell; which, like "Lightning," was also set in the early years of the twentieth century, and the fledgling motion picture industry played a significant role in Mr. Bell's book, as it did in the work by Mr. Blum. The fact that I personally prefer the former's writing, having read many compelling James Scott Bell novels, should not dissuade others from "American Lightning." The review by Publishers Weekly, posted on Amazon.com's website, makes several favorable comments, including:
"Blum paints his characters in all their grandeur and tragedy, making them--and their era--come alive. Blum's prose is tight, his speculations unfailingly sound and his research extensive--all adding up to an absorbing and masterful true crime narrative."

American Lighting is a brilliant exposé on the highly disparate, and yet amazingly similar, lives of three men: a lawyer, a filmmaker, and a private detective, all of whom helped usher in the twentieth century with their groundbreaking work. Certainly, individual books on each of these men, Clarence Darrow, D. W. Griffith, and Billy Burns have been, and probably will continue to be, written as each was a pioneer in his own right; however, the manner in which their fascinating paths crossed as a result of the infamous bombing of the Los Angeles Times in 1910 has led Howard Blum to create this fascinating foray into the conflicts between labor and capitalists which ultimately shaped the future of our country for the next 100 years.

American Lighting contains all the elements of a great historical novel - larger than life characters (Darrow, Griffith, and Burns) working together and against each other as well as being innovators in their respective fields amidst a backdrop of societal conflicts, often on the verge of meltdown, that fuel the passions of the wise and the foolish alike. Murders, bombings, the development of cinema as a form of communication that exceeds storytelling, politics, crime, and a seeming endless series of who-done-its fill this work with much to savor.

While the tale woven by Mr. Bloom can become rather intense, he keeps a strong hold on the manner in which it is presented and successfully leaves the reader with a cogent whole. Bravo, Mr. Blum!

This book really reads like American Lightning - fast, brilliant and illuminating. The characters are so rich and intriguing, it seems impossible that the author didn't create them himself. I was amazed at how relatively sophisticated detection was at the turn of the century, and how key players in three industries ended up interacting. But mostly, what surprised me was the story's resonance. Everything in the book - labor unrest, driven detectives, cross country commutes in search of the truth, Hollywood's importance -- all seemed so contemporary that I kept forgetting it was a period piece. Loved this book.

I am having a hard time completing this one. My mind wanders and I find myself drifting off to sleep. I decided to read something a bit more interesting, and perhaps, picking American Lightning up later. It does have some high points, but not enough to keep my eyes open.

American Lightning is a book that can non make up its mind about what story it is trying to tell. It seems to be equally split between trying to tell the story of the birth of Hollywood and D.W. Griffith, the story of William Burns and the story of the bombing of the L.A. Times building and the subsequent trial. This lack of focus hurts the story and leads to a disjointed and hard to follow plot line.

The most fascinating aspect of this book is the labor strife and the anger that culminated with the bombing of the L.A. Times building. This story could be fascinating but Mr. Blum goes off in different tangents just as he starts to build momentum in one direction and, as a result, he loses focus and we are left with a dull, haphazard story.

Wow, what a chore just to finish this book! The author has taken what could have been a moderately interesting 200-page book and stretched it to nearly twice that length. His book revolves around three famous individuals of the early 20th century, but the facts mostly center on only one of these three, and the author drags the other two back onto center stage for irrelevant detail far too often.

Not only that, he repeatedly commits a cardinal sin for anyone creative: "Show, don't tell." This author tells, tells, tells, and then tells what he's showing.

In need of some very, very serious editing.

In 1910 there were a series of explosions across the country. Some believed the bombings were the work of anarchists while others thought they were more likely caused by workers in the fight between the working class and capitalists. The bombings were destructive but bloodless until October 1, 1910 when 21 employees of the Los Angeles Times were killed when an explosion ripped through their building. But was it the work of angry workers or company owners hoping to blame the unions? Enter Billy Burns, the greatest private detective of his day.

Butns was hired by the city to find the culprits and he took his role very seriously. His company followed every lead and eventually located the people who set the bomb and the people who hired them. But the story is much more than just Billy Burns solving the bombing. The unions wanted the best man possible to defend the accused union leaders so they hire Clarence Darrow. Darrow still had years ahead of him to defend Scopes for teaching evolution and Leopold and Loeb for being cold blooded killers. But this case almost broke him.

And finally we meet D.W. Griffith, the famous director who's involvement in this case is very peripheral but who represents what Los Angeles is becoming. The end result is a fast moving and interesting look at a little known terrorist period in out history. Blum writes like a newspaperman (which he is) and not a novelist (which he isn't). The book is a quick read that bounces between the three main characters and tries to tie them together with varying success.

The end result is not a failure but it isn't a great success. There are many parts of the story (the many bombings by the labor movement, for example) that could have used more in-depth treatment. But it isn't a bad book and I think you will find it worth the time. The 300 pages read quickly and Blum wrap up things well enough at the end to leave you feeling that you got the meat of the story.

Howard Blum, Pulitzer Prize finalist, has crafted the story of an act of terrorism perpetrated on American soil (by Americans) some 90 years before 9/11. The LA Times building was exploded by a bomb set by union supporters in October 1910 (the Times was an anti-unionist paper). People died and the building was destroyed, but the paper kept right on rolling and in fact was published the very next day. The publisher, Harrrison Grey Otis, who knew he might be a target, had planned for such an event and had a separate printing setup elsewhere.

Blum's story is told from the perspectives of three diverse personalities: Billy Burns, head of the William J. Burns Detective agency, later to head what would become the FBI, hired to find the bombers; Clarence Darrow, hired by the AFL to defend the bombers; and D.W. Griffith, silent screen director and friend to Burns, who had made a film for Burns to help him trap a murderer, and who had made films about management and labor disputes and had explored other social issues in his work, notably race relations and the Ku Klux Klan in Birth of a Nation. Burns was actually sympathetic to the union cause and Darrow was nearly ruined by accusations of jury tampering in his involvement with this case. Darrow would go on to national notoriety by defending Leopold and Loeb (and sparing them the death penalty) as well as evolution in the Scopes Monkey Trial. Griffith's place in the story is tangential at best, and seemingly interjected to shine up the narrative with tales of old Hollywood, a connection that seems tailored to help sell the book to as wide an audience as possible.

I'm not a great fan of political or management/labor tales as a rule, but I do like Hollywood. The tone is very chatty and not as dry as one might expect from the subject matter, and does read more like a novel than a historical reconstruction. There are snippets of descriptions for nearly everyone in the book, using pretty entertaining imagery (Darrow is "full of Old Testament fervor," which he certainly was, and Griffith "stern, somber, imperial" a well as "menacing, like a bird of prey").

If you like historical nonfiction books, you will like this one. It's well-crafted if a little far-reaching. The book I received as an uncorrected proof for review contains no pictures to help shape the story, but the one I perused in the book store does. All in all, a solid effort of a interesting time in American life and an event that could still happen in today's climate of poor economy and job loss and disgruntled workers.

Those who think (as I did) that the bombing of Wall Street was the only act of domestic terrorism in the US in the early 20th century are in for a surprise. This is an account, both of labor vs. business and of the events that caused, and to some extent, calmed the confrontation.

I agree that D.W. Griffith's role in this is tangential but the detail that's expended on all three main characters and their motives was fascinating to me. True, things don't quite come together as in The Devil In The White City but for me, this was more than offset by the similarities to our present day concerns about terrorism and the value of labor unions. I was reminded a bit of Jack Finney's Forgotten News which, although covering a minor story, did so with an amazing amount of interesting detail. A complicated story, very well told.

As soon as I read the prologue in this book, I became hooked in the story. Blum writes in a very direct, matter-of-fact style that nonetheless manages to engage the reader. I found it hard to put this book down, because I kept wondering what would happen next.

Blum writes about the early years of the 20th century, when workers and capitalists were at their most opposite extremes. The background to the story is the social fabric of America, the unions and socialists and capitalists, all mixed together and not always on the best of terms. This era, just before the World Wars, was still steeped in the industrial age, when factories and sweatshops were plentiful. Although Blum does not dwell on the politics or ethics of the era, he shows us glimpses of this turbulent age through the actions and thoughts of the story's characters.

In the book, detective William J. Burns is the central character around which Blum weaves the story. Other main characters include lawyer Clarence Darrow and filmmaker D.W. Griffith. Blum shuttles the story back and forth between these three individuals, showing how the work they do leads them towards a nexus in history. The story follows the bombing of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, and how detective Burns becomes involved with the investigation of the bombing.

The book is easy to read (the author doesn't use a lot of jargon), and the chapters are quite short, which makes it easy to dip into this book at lunch or when time is short. This book would be quite accessible to young adult readers. I've just finished a college history class on the American West, and I found myself recognizing people in the story, and getting excited at being able to make connections to them. For true-crime buffs, or history aficionados, this book would be a welcome addition to your reading list.

Howard Blum's new book, American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, The Birth of Hollywood, And The Crime Of the Century, couldn't have been released at a better time. As Wall Street chokes and gasps and financial institutions fail, American Lightning is a subtle reminder that the U. S. economy has never been all sunshine and flowers. Labor and capital (management) fought bloody battles as it whirls into the twentieth century.

The beating heart of the book is the one a.m. October 1, 1910 bombing of the "Los Angeles Times" building and the deaths of twenty-one newspaper employees. The nation reeled from the slaughter. Justice was demanded. The bombing was labeled as "the crime of the century." Blum does a good job in describing the night's events. Blum is a journalist and his ability to report is evident.

After the bombing, the three main characters enter: movie pioneer, D. W. Griffith; William J. Burns, the nation's greatest detective; and Clarence Darrow, America's crusading attorney. Although the three men only met together for a span of approximately no more than two minutes, the how and why these three giants' careers intersect is the main thesis of American Lightning.

Griffith, a failed playwright, was making movies about the war between labor and management. His movies brought in audiences by the thousands. The movies were able to give faces to the harsh injustices of the modern world.

Burns was investigating a Peoria, Illinois, bombing that led him to L.A. With his son and numerous operatives, Burns conducted one of the most exhaustive manhunts this nation has ever seen. When arrests were made, three men were ultimately charged with the murders of the "Times" employees.

Enter Darrow, who is coerced into becoming the lead defense attorney and ultimately is charged with jury tampering.

The cast and plot is large and complicated. Blum does a great job in keeping all the lead and supporting characters straight. The story moves easily between the three men, keeping the reader in sync with all the events.

While each part of American Lightning is a captivating story, when they are put together in 321 pages, Blum must rely on more reporting than storytelling. The narrative flows well, but it doesn't snap. I was easily able to follow the structure, but at times it was more like reading a history book than anything else.

Armchair Interviews says: Interesting story of violence and the aftermath.

This (historical narrative) is not one of the genres that I would normally read. However, after reading the description, I thought it sounded like it would be interesting considering the events and people involved. As a matter of fact, when I originally ordered it (pre-publication) I thought it was fiction. However, I was surprised to find that the book is based upon actual events and that the lives of the key players did, in fact, intersect.

Even more surprising, I found the book enthralling. Not being "big" on history in general, I found that the author brought these events to life. It read almost like a thriller. I have to admit I had never heard of these events either during my education or subsequently. Additionally, the parallels to a post 9/11/2001 America (terrorism, its impact on civil liberties, etc.) are striking.

It's amazing to me that a century later we, as a nation, were still operating in a reactive rather than proactive manner to such events. I won't politicize here, but I would strongly recommend this book regardless of your political point of view. The author remains objective throughout, leaving the reader to glean his own takeaways.

I eagerly jumped into AMERICAN LIGHTNING, anticipating something along the lines of the historical work of Eric Larson (DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, ISAAC'S STORM). The description promised to bring together the lives of 3 celebrities of the early 20th century...people whose lives would cross in unexpected ways. Also, I anticipated a coming together of some major events in a way that would create an unexpected synergy (much in the way the story of serial killer H.H. Holmes and the story of the Chicago World's Fair blended in WHITE CITY).

Unfortunately, I was much disappointed. This is not to say that the events explored in AMERICAN LIGHTNING were inconsequential or uninteresting...they were without a doubt. But a hard-to-describe element was missing...perhaps the synergy I mentioned above or perhaps a true sense of being swept up in these old events in a way that made them immediate.

AMERICAN LIGHTNING tells the story of a domestic "terrorist" attack in early 1900's Los Angeles. It was a time when the strife between labor and capitalists, between unions and owners, was reaching a boiling point. Things had moved from mere demonstrations and strikes to violence and threats of more violence. When a bomb was detonated in the offices of the Los Angeles Times, 21 people died in the fire that followed...and a manhunt was launched to find those responsible. Some theorized that unions were behind this bombing. Other, more conspiracy-theory minded, thought the owners had done it themselves in order to stir public sentiment against labor. A frame-up, if you like.

The first major character to enter the scene was world-famous detective William Burns. It's interesting to realize there was a time when a detective could be world-famous...and not fictional like Sherlock Holmes. Burns and his considerable network of detectives, went on a nationwide manhunt for the perpetrators. The best parts of the book for me show how rudimentary forensic work and simple, tireless plodding eventually uncovered the truth. Burns certainly engaged in some tactics which these days would probably have had the whole case thrown out of court...but which I found clever and almost admirable. Certainly the resources used to solve this "crime of the century" were considerable, although primitive.

When the case comes to trial, it is the very famous lawyer Clarence Darrow (later of the Scopes Monkey Trial...the inspiration for the classic play & movie INHERIT THE WIND) who takes the spotlight. We come to learn of his internal conflicts and of his sometimes unscrupulous methods. The tricks both sides try to use to sway the case come across like cheap manipulations that wouldn't make it onto LAW AND ORDER...but apparently they were state of the art legal tactics in their day.

And threaded through all of this is the presence of early film pioneer DW Griffith. He's the director who really saw the storytelling tool film could become, and we see his early evolution as an artist, leading up to his creation of the masterwork BIRTH OF A NATION (and yes, I know it is a horribly racist film and distorts history...I'm only commenting that it was a masterpiece in its scope and artistry, as well as groundbreaking for its day).

Clearly author Howard Blum has introduced Griffith to this story (even though he is EXTREMELY tangential to it) in an effort to create this synergy. Griffith is inspired by the plight of laborers and this inspires his work. His work thus informs and inspires the public. That may all very well be true...but at no point does the story of Griffith really fit into the main story of this crime. In fact, it creates almost the opposite of the synergy I was looking for. It was a distraction and broke up the rhythm of the book.

There are really two stories here worthy of a book. The story of the crime, which is told fairly well here...and the story of early filmmaking, which feels like padding in its context in AMERICAN LIGHTNING. If the portions of the book about Griffith were simply cut...this would not have been a book-length piece. But I would have argued for no Griffith, but more background on Burns and Darrow. We're only told a little bit about how they each arrived at the place they are when the book starts. I think a few pages more devoted to each man would have sufficed to strengthen and lengthen the book. Griffith could easily be made the subject of a book all on his own (and no doubt has been many time).

Blum is not the best writer, either. His work is not clumsy or incompetent...but for most of the book, I felt as though I were reading something that was really written for a Junior High audience. A "grown-up" book for youth. While I didn't quite feel "talked down" to...I also didn't feel challenged or enlightened by the prose. It was a solid, interesting story told in a solid, workmanlike manner. I believe it could have been much, much more.

I will recommend the book, but not heartily. The history to be learned here is interesting and worthwhile. But unlike the Larson books I cite above, you won't read it avidly like you would a brilliant novel either.

In American Lightning, Blum does more than retell the story of the LA Times bombing. He weaves a complex narrative that centers on three principals: Clarence Darrow, the McNamara brothers' reluctant advocate, Billy Burns, the "American Sherlock Holmes" who spearheaded the investigation into the bombing, and D. W. Griffith, who was at the time a budding film-maker in the midst of inventing much of modern cinematography.

Though the three men only come together literally for a brief moment, Blum masterfully ties each together-each man was, in his own way, profoundly changed by the trial. Darrow nearly saw his career end in shame, Burns solved the case only to be denigrated as a lackey for LA money, and Griffith was inspired to "think big," thus putting him on the path of filming Birth of a Nation.

The story of the bombing itself, while well known to historians, is likely to be new to the average reader, and Blum does a great job of telling the story, putting the reader next to Burns as he tries desperately to stop a rising wave of terror. It's certainly a story that's told differently in the post 9/11 world, and it is not without its relevance to us today.

American Lightning is a quick read-most of the 45 chapters are short, and the book breezes along. It doesn't hurt that Blum is an engaging writer and that he's unraveling one of the 20th century's most infamous mysteries. It's a rare author that can make a genuine page-turned out of Progressive-era labor politics, Los Angeles municipal scheming, and the details of silent movie production, but Blum does just that, and then some.

Blum knows that many of his themes-a war on terror, the budding of a new media in California, and land speculation and corruption-will have a special resonance for today's readers, but he doesn't overplay his hand and does an admirable job of letting the reader think for him (her)self. There's certainly a great deal of food for thought here.

For those interested in a detailed dissection of the Times bombing trial, or Burns' career, or Griffith's film-making, something by a specialist might be a better choice. But if you just want to read a great story that has real relevance today, you can't go wrong with American Lightning.

OK, this was a fun yarn, but can someone please explain to me why DW Griffith deserves more than a handful of pages in this book? He has next to nothing to do with the overwhelming majority of the story. The same applies to Clarence Darrow, at least until the point where the trial preparations begin. Darrow could have been handled in perhaps 4-5 pages of background treatment, but instead we get what appeared to be dozens of pages about Darrow's trials & travails leading up to the trial.

Echoing another reviewer, I found Blum's continual reference to "Billy" to be extremely annoying after awhile. Additionally, Blum's tendency to tell us what the major characters were thinking --- all the while providing absolutely nothing in the way of documentation --- makes me wonder if he was conjuring significant portions of this story out of thin air, simply for dramatic effect.

Blum's citations, if you can even call them that, are laughable. As a history, it is next to worthless. Consider it a thriller, fictional or otherwise, and leave it at that.

"American Lightning" gives an account of the American labor movement in its infancy against the intractibility of business owners and political figures. Meticulously researched, it delves into little-known connections and personalities that have receded in the public memory; it also covers the birth of cinema in America and its importance in recording the happenings that shaped the country as a whole.

Its core story is the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building, late one night in 1910, at the cost of 21 lives. The politically-strong owner, Harrison Otis, recruits always-gets-his-man Billy Burns, a real-life Sherlock Holmes, to catch the culprits, who are assumed to be union activists. Burns covers a lot of territory, and so does the author of this book, Howard Blum; I learned more about early-1900s America in this one book than in an entire 12 grades of school. Burns travels all over the American map in search of clues and suspects, spending time as a faux hunter in a remote island community near Seattle, amongst followers of the Anarchist movement (I never knew there was such a group); seems to be constantly catching trains to cities from coast to coast; and at long last rounds up the suspects he has dogged for months, with the help of an elite corps of detectives, all of whom seem to be faithful to their boss.

The other two protagonists in this sometimes-plodding but always-full-of-facts account are Clarence Darrow, on the downturn of a good career and hired to defend the men Burns arrests; and D.W.Griffiths, arguably the father of American moviemaking, who lingers on the sidelines of this emerging drama, producing increasingly more complex films and romancing every female he encounters in the process. The coming trial of the union men is prior to Darrow's overwhelmingly better-known triumph as the lawyer in the Scopes "Monkey" trial, which he is primarily known by; this 1910 defense, while sensational at the time, is dimly lit in history. This book brings it vividly to life.

The first third or so of "American Lightning" moves somewhat slowly, but when Burns begins to find really incriminating evidence, the pace picks up a bit. The trial itself, interspersed with side stories of personal affairs and of a plot by big business to divert a planned reservoir for Los Angeles into the San Fernando Valley to create a developmental paradise, always keeps you guessing as to which direction Blum is taking this story. He presents both sides with valid reasons for doing as they did, but ends up making both the Unions and the bosses look pretty unsavory. Bribes seem to be not only commonplace but brazen, although shown to be illegal; threats to the lives of persons on both sides are also numerous.

This is a history book, so it does not read with the ease of a novel. You have to be dedicated to sticking with a fairly involved trail of clues, but for those who are fans of a good crime story, this covers everything; murder, courtroom drama, chases, and deserved verdicts. As a bit of American legal and social history, it's a valuable reference.

"American Lightning" is a non-fictional account of what it calls "the crime of the Century" (meaning the 20th Century). It was early enough in the Century to qualify without too much competition but I confess that, despite my interest in American history, I was not familiar with the event. I'm glad that I now know about this event which I discovered somewhere around page 50. The strength of this book is the methodical efforts of famed detective Billy Burns to discern the perpetrators of the crime. I found the middle of the book hard to put down as we followed this pursuit. The efforts of Mr. Burns were impressive as was the mannor in which the author, Howard Blum, brought this search to life. As much as I enjoyed this book, however, I do have several objections to "American Lightning".

The first aspect of the book that I took objection to was the tendency of the author to tell us the thoughts and motives of these real, historic characters. A novelist is free to tell us whatever ever he/she wants about the thoughts and motives of characters that he/she created. However, to suppose such things about actual people in actual events is purely literary speculation and should have no place in a work of non-fiction. I found a number of these speculations delivered as fact although, as the book moved along, I was relieved to note they were less and less frequent.

My next objection took me all the way to the end of the book to realize. However, as I read the book, I became more and more suspicious that one of the three main charactors in this book was virtually irrelevant when compared to the other two. Rather than get too specific, I'll just say that this odd man out was more of a marquee attraction than a person relevant to the story. We were later led to a scene in which all three persons were together in the same room at the same time! At that point in the book that "revelation" seemed rather pathetic.

Finally, the author did make an effort to keep us informed on various aspects of the times in which the "crime of the Century" occurred. However, he went a bit overboard telling us a lot of interesting information about the industry of our irrelevant charactor and way too little about the real historical issue of the times; labor relations. I recognize that such an in depth discussion of the labor movement in the early 1900's could bog the book down in too much detail. However, I'm not sure readers unfamiliar with the importance of that historical movement came away with much more information than before.

I enjoyed reading "American Lightning". The energy the book created made me realize that it would make a good movie. Perhaps the author had that in mind when he went a charactor too far.

"American Lightning" is the kind of book I really enjoy -- one that combines actual historical events with famous individuals -- a determined detective, a legendary movie director, a high-profile lawyer, an anti-union newspaper owner, and an early 20th-century terrorist -- in a captivating read. Author Howard Blum blends the stories of these people interestingly and always holds the reader's attention. It's great fun when Clarence Darrow or D.W. Griffith -- legendary men in their professions -- turn up as part of the unfolding story of the bombing of the Los Angeles Times' offices in 1910 and the crime's aftermath. The book is written on a broad canvas, combining Sherlock Holmes-style detective work with a portraitt of America in the early 1900's. I was reminded of Doctorow's "Ragtime" and Meyer's "The Seven Percent Solution" because of Blum's ability to weave real-life individuals into his story. Blum writes in an easy-to-follow conversational style formulating multi-faceted, intriguing characters.

I absolutely enjoyed this book. The arrangement of scenes is very much like the old silents, including the films of D.W. Griffith-- short while advancing the plot, cutting between the characters. This technique doesn't suit all readers, but this vingette approach works for me in this novel. The research appears to be good, although personally I'd've liked to see the sources for the quotes, preferably as endnotes so the reader can choose to look at them or not, without interrupting the prose. A bibliography is included; I just like to see from which source a quote comes.

The scope of the crimes here is vast and does not seem to have been well known either then or now, or has been lost due to the focus of the perpetrators on property damage (like some current domestic terrorists we could mention). Although the writer, and indeed the writings of the main characters are sympathetic to the cause of labor; the conclusion that violence to advance a cause is both wrong and counterproductive is refreshing. The bombings described in this book could have brought down organized labor, and indeed were the end of one union. To resort to terrorism means the argument has already been lost (IMO).

While D.W. Griffith may seem a periphery character, he fits very well in the public relations campaigns conducted in the period. Indeed, the movie industry and "public relations" as we know the term today were both just beginning in the first decade of the 20th century, and were basically one and the same in many cases. He was a interesting choice, given how his most famous film (Birth of a Nation) is now dismissed as a piece of racist propaganda. During the period when it was released, it was viewed as progressive.

The descriptions of the detective work, legal wranglings, extra-legal skullduggery, and even early film-making are great; the work moves along quickly and keeps the reader's interest. Even better, the work is based on real events with the participants' own words. I think the author's approach works here.

This is a nicely-written work of popular history that details connections between an early-twentieth-century terrorist attack on the LA Times, unionist and anarchist unrest, crime-solving, and the development of the film industry. We meet Clarence Darrow and D.W. Griffiths in the midst of their careers, and are introduced to the long forgotten "master sleuth" William J. Burns. The author draws in the characters' personal relationships and does a good job of character sketching to explain the complex personalities behind the decision-making that was going on. More interesting than either the politics of the time (and the general uproar about unionism) or the actual resolution of the case, I found, were the descriptions of how detective work went on in an age before most of the modern tracking tools we now use were available. That aspect of the book was fascinating.

Unfortunately, this is not going to win Blum the Pulitzer. The biggest problem for me as a reader and historian was the depth of the atmosphere around the events--that is, the narrative focuses more heavily on events than on atmosphere. It thus makes it hard to think yourself into the period--and the book reads more like a film treatment than a work of history. One suspects it was an attempt to capitalize on the filming of Upton Sinclair's _Oil!_, as it falls in the same period. I do think it would make a great film; it is just too simplistic to be a very satisfying read.

This is well crafted tale of three giants at the beginning of the century and the crime that brought them together. Mr.Blum deftly weaves the tale of the bombing of the Times Building in Los Angles with the lives of these three players. It is very well written and has the page turning qualities of thriller. It is reminiscent of "Devil in the White City". Well done.

American Lightning is a fascinating report of an event that was a national sensation almost 100 years ago, but is little known today: the bombing of the offices of the Los Angeles Times.

The book reveals a time when America was engaged in a war between Business and Labor. The central character in the story is William J Burns, a master detective who has been called the real-life counterpart to Sherlock Holmes. The "supporting cast" includes celebrity lawyer Clarence Darrow and movie director D. W. Griffith.

Burns is hired to track down the bomber. He and his agents criss cross the country following leads, staking out suspects, and eventually collaring the perpetrators. But the story doesn't end there. The Trial of the Century takes place, and there is more intrigue and plenty of courtroom drama.

The author writes at a brisk pace, and provides a lot of detail about what America was like 100 years ago. If only history had been this interesting when I was in school! I had to stop myself a few times while reading this book and remind myself that it was not a novel... these were real people, these events really happened.

American Lightning is very entertaining, and provides a glimpse into a period that is perhaps not very different from today. Technology has changed, but much of the description of the worlds of business, politics, entertainment and law enforcement read as if they were "ripped from today's headlines".

If you're a fan of "police procedural" and "courtroom drama" television shows, give this book a try. It could be the plot of the next episode of "Law & Order"!

I'm quite clearly in the minority on this one. Other readers seem mostly to have had a good read with this. I found it hard to keep my eyes open.

The cover blurb says "Terror, Mystery, Movie-making and the crime of the century." Well, maybe. But I couldn't find much of any of this. Though I think I'm fairly literate in 20th-century American history, I was only vaguely aware of the bombing of the LA Times building and could easily cite others to label as the crime of the century. How about the Lindbergh kidnappping? Any number of serial killers? But I do concede it's interesting to get some information on this.

The Griffith/Pickford aspects of film-making, as presented here, are superficial at best. There's a lot that has been written on how film-making came to southern California, far more engrossing than the bits here.

William Burns, Clarence Darrow -- throw together a few well-known names of the period, place in pot and stir. If this type of novel interests you, try E.J. Doctorow who is masterful at thus recreating a period and making it meaningful.

I hope others might enjoy this book. It's certainly not terrible, but it's just as certainly not great.

I really wanted to like this book. It's about an interesting and rarely discussed or studied time in American history- the beginning of the 20th century, when things like unions and movies were still new and unfamiliar concepts, and when major crimes were solved by private detectives instead of police or government agencies.

Unfortunately, Howard Blum ruins a fascinating historical mystery with poor organization, too many characters who aren't connected for the majority of the book, and boring asides which only distract from the main mystery. I understand the desire to be thorough and to set the stage well for readers unfamiliar with the time period, but the book would have benefited from an author or editor who knew how to pick and choose background details.

Also, I don't care for this hybrid between a non-fiction investigation and a novel. Blum did research and used facts to tell the story, but he also included dialogue, left out reports that didn't fit the commonly held descriptions of events, and wrote the book more to entertain than to inform. Perhaps if it had actually been entertaining I would have been more accepting, but since it failed at that, I would have preferred a more traditional non-fiction book than this.

While "American Lightning" is sub-categorized as a true crime book, I think it is important for readers to understand that it is primarily categorized, and rightly so, as a "history" book.

While I am an avid, amateur American historian, my own personal preference is for the 19th and 18th century eras. Therefore, although this book is extremely well researched and well written, I found it difficult to read, only because I found the subject matter uninteresting on a personal level.

In fact, the book has been criticized for the one area that I did find interesting, specifically, the information regarding D.W. Griffith and the early days of the motion picture industry!

I also immensely enjoy reading true crime, but, again, my tastes apparently run towards the modern, rather than the historical, genre in that category, as I found it difficult to be captivated by the mystery in this book.

I gave the book four stars, as I respect the author's enthusiasm and integrity, and, as I stated before, the book was very well written. I am sure this book fills a niche about the early days of the struggle between management and labor, and Billy Burns, and much of the work of Clarence Darrow that is not commonly known, as well as the story of the development, growth, and politics of Los Angeles and, to a lesser extent, other areas in California, during the early twentieth century.

So, whether you are a student of history, or just an aficionado, like myself, AND (I want to emphasize this) your area of interest or study falls within the subject matter and time period of this book, then I would highly recommend it. Otherwise, you may find it a bit dull.

I have to admit that when I first started reading this book I didn't realize that it was actually a non-fiction story written as a novelization, which in my opinion made the story appear to be a lot more interesting.

This book is based on the true story of the bombing in 1910 of the Los Angeles Times building by a group of homegrown terrorists who were also union members, which is extremely relevant to the story and the underlying motives behind this and the failed attempt at numerous other bombings that were supposed to be executed simultaneously throughout the United States.

I am not one for revealing the entire plot or key points in a story as I think that is an utter betrayal to the prospective reader who is basically cheated out of a lot of the fun of reading a story for one's self. Therefore, I will try and be as informative as I can in this review without giving too much away.

The three primary characters in this story are as follows:

Billy Burns; who is basically America's answer to Sherlock Holmes. Burns was a retired Secret Service agent who built his own detective agency.

Clarence Darrow; famous or some would say infamous defense attorney.

D.W. Griffith; influential Hollywood movie director.

The basic plot is as follows:

In retaliation for aggressive and often violent union-busting efforts by Harrison Gray Otis, who by the way was the owner of the Los Angeles Times at the time, a group of union members planned the simultaneous bombing of approximately 100 locations, which did not succeed. However, two brothers by the name of McNamara successfully bombed the Los Angeles Times building causing the deaths of twenty people and injuring countless others. They would eventually be caught and unsuccessfully defended by Clarence Darrow, who ended up in some hot water of his own, but I will leave that detail for you to find out on your own.

This story is riveting not only because it's true, but also due to the writing style of its author, Howard Blum.

I would highly recommend this book and I ended up reading it twice since the first time I thought I was reading a work of fiction instead of a true accounting of one of the earliest forms of American born terrorism on our own soil.

I would also recommend this book for any and all who enjoyed this one.

American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill President Truman--and the Shoot-out That Stopped It

Shawn Kovacich
Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.

In this nonfiction narrative we follow William J. Burns, a former Secret Service agent into the "crime of the century". When the LA times offices blow apart in 1910, a plot to bomb 100 American cities comes to light. As a true crime reader, I found American Lightning everything I want in a book and more: engaging detective, conflicted defense attorney, celebrities, and a richly told tale of terror and crime. The most interesting thing I found is that it is all true. Everyone I asked about this had never heard of it and are all anxious to read the book. To add to the enticing mix is the story of early Hollwood and the making of D.W. Griffith's films and how this event shaped the direction of movies to come. An enjoyable read, this book went quickly. I'm still stunned there isn't a movie about this event yet. Perhaps there will be after this novel hits the stands.

It is a battle between labor unions and the wealthy men that exploit workers. Detective Billy Burns is thrown into the case of the century when the Los Angeles Times building is bombed and twenty-one people lose their lives. He discovers that the bombing was done by union members who meant only to scare the owners of the newspaper. He arrests them and waits for a verdict, but Clarence Darrow signs on to champion the case of the working man and defend the accused. It is a complicated political trial with important historical outcomes.

The problems with this account abound. I was attracted to it because of its use of D. W. Griffith in the narrative, but unfortunately, the connection is executed poorly. The author constantly interjects with unrelated information about Griffith's films and painfully attempts to relate them to the story. Instead of enhancing the events, Blum seems to be bragging about his knowledge of early film. The Griffith sections could have been entirely deleted and the book would not be changed. That being said, at least the information is (mostly) factual. Griffith did not invent the close-up although he is often credited with such, but the stories about Mary Pickford and the Gish sisters are lifted straight from their memoirs.

The biggest problem with American Lightning is that it is badly advertised. Hardly a mystery, it is more like a crime thriller. It reads like a history book rather than an exciting page turner. None of the characters are well developed, so one finds himself asking, "Who cares?" on frequent occasions. This book should have been better. It touches on the California irrigation plans that were wrought with corruption; a similar story was brought to live brilliantly in the film Chinatown. Blum's book is rather dull in comparison and should have been better. Strangely enough, he claims not to need to site his sources because this book is a non-academic history. If it is not academic and it is not entertaining, then what exactly is the purpose of American Lightning?

In American Lightning, Pulitzer Prize nominee and contributing editor for Vanity Fair, Howard Blum braids together the lives of three brilliant and fascinating men.

The Cast

Before the actions documented in this book took place, Billy Burns, the most famous detective of his era, had unmasked counterfeiters, saved the life of the British Ambassador, and rescued San Francisco from the clutches of a corrupt, violent administration. Clarence Darrow, master attorney, had established a powerful reputation as a defender of the downtrodden, and D.W. Griffith had begun making one-reel films that would develop into modern American Cinema. In fact, the title of the book refers to a film. After seeing Griffith's Birth of a Nation, President Woodrow Wilson said, "It is like writing history with lightning."

The Action

After the Los Angeles Times building exploded in the middle of the night on October 1, 1910, Burns was hired to find the cause. The ensuing investigation lead his staff of detectives across the country. Greedy land speculators, labor activists, and anarchists became suspects in a possible terrorist plot. In the resulting trial, the silver-tongued Darrow defended the accused.

The Read

American Lightning is based on extensive research, but reading it is like viewing a thriller at the neighborhood cinema. You see a six-foot undercover detective wearing a blonde wig and dress rush to the site of the Times disaster. You watch Burns scratch away a coat of paint to reveal the name of a boat used to carry a load of dynamite.

The Significance

This book covers a time much like our own. It was a time of terrorism, fear, conflict and change. Labor and tax-payers struggled to establish their rights against powerful businessmen and developers. It is a fast and gripping read.

I found that in his quick summary, and what he put in his book, makes me want to do an in depth study of that time and what had happened. It was a dispute between big labor, money, and greed of lust and power.

It starts in 1909, with the beginning of Los Angeles. Los Angeles starts with bombs and violence. It's an investigating, journalistic study of the start of a huge center of media capital in the world to be. It forms just like any other city, with feuding, contentious labor unions, strikes, and violence. Turmoil forms L