Thunderstruck

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Thunderstruck Page 43

by Erik Larson


  ———. Nobel Lecture, Dec. 11, 1909. Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi, undated.

  Marconi, Maria Cristina. Marconi My Beloved. Dante University of America Press, 1999.

  Maskelyne (Nevil) Incident Papers. IEE (S.C. Mss. 17).

  Maskelyne, Nevil, and David Devant. Our Magic. George Routledge, undated.

  Massie, Larry B. Potawatomi Tears & Petticoat Pioneers. Priscilla Press, c. 1992.

  Massie, Robert K. Dreadnought. Random House, 1991.

  Massie, Walter W., and Charles R. Underhill. Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony Popularly Explained. D. Van Nostrand, 1908.

  Masterman, C.F.G. The Condition of England. Methuen, 1910 (1909).

  Maurois, André. The Edwardian Era. D. Appleton-Century, 1933.

  McDonald, John P. Lost Indianapolis. Accadia, 2002. Indiana State Library.

  McKenzie, Anna, ed. The Greater Indianapolis Blue Book, 1898–1899. Brown-Merrill. Indiana State Library.

  Michigan Business Directory. 1863.

  Mitchell, W. H. Canadian Pacific and Southampton. World Ship Society, 1991.

  Moffett, Cleveland. “Signor Marconi and Wireless Telegraphy.” Windsor Magazine (1899).

  Monthly Weather Review. U.S. Weather Bureau 29 (1902).

  Musk, George. Canadian Pacific Afloat: 1883–1968. Canadian Pacific, 1968.

  Norman-Butler, Belinda. Victorian Aspirations. George Allen, 1972.

  “Notes.” Electrician 39, no. 7 (June 11, 1897), pp. 207–8.

  Notes on Naval Progress. Office of Naval Intelligence, General Printing Office, July 1901.

  O’Hara, J. G., and W. Pricha. Hertz and the Maxwellians. Peter Peregrinus/Science Museum, London, 1987.

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  Paresce, Francesco. “Personal Reflections on an ‘Italian Adventurer.’” http:// www.marconifoundation.org.

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  Petrie, Sir Charles. The Edwardians. W. W. Norton, 1965.

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  Portrait and Biographical Album of Branch County, Michigan. Chapman, 1888.

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  Sewall, Charles Henry. Wireless Telegraphy. D. Van Nostrand, 1904.

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  ———. Tono-Bungay. Modern Library, 2003 (1909).

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  Westman, Eric. “Marconi’s ‘Forgotten’ Transmission.” Bulletin of the British Vintage Wireless Society 11, no. 3 (January 1987), p. 37.

  ———. “Marconi’s Tests in 1897.” Bulletin of the British Vintage Wireless Society 11, no. 4 (March 1987), p. 52.

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  ———. Common Trailside Plants of Cape Cod National Seashore. Eastern National, 2003.

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  Ybarra, T. R. Caruso. Harcourt, Brace, 1953.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I AM ONE FORTUNATE AUTHOR. Not only is this my fourth book with the same publisher, Crown, but it’s my fourth with my beloved editor, Betty Prashker, and my agent, friend and consigliere, David Black. Once again all have proven to be steadfast allies, not flinching—at least not much—even when the manuscript arrived six months late. Betty has a remarkable ability to ease an author’s anxiety. She has edited so many books by so many fine writers that when she says, “Don’t worry, it will all be fine,” you know that indeed there is cause for calm.

  At Crown my books have always received maximum support, thanks to the enthusiasm of Jenny Frost, Steve Ross, and Tina Constable, and their secret weapon, the legion of ardent book reps—evangelists, really—who escort Crown’s books into the world. Whitney Cookman made the book jacket beautiful; Janet Biehl, copy editor and savior, made it coherent. Penny Simon, supreme publicist, took on the all-important task of placing this book in the minds of readers. Special thanks go to Lindsey Moore, assistant editor, for cheerily serving as intermediary and finder.

  I owe my greatest debt to my wife, Christine Gleason, and my daughters and dog for keeping me sane and relatively stable. It is hard to take yourself too seriously when you have three daughters all in or near their teens, especially if two of them are learning to drive. My wife once again demonstrated her innate talent for editing. She knows that when she receives my manuscript, she suddenly possesses a great deal of power, but she uses that power wisely—though those periodic trains of zzzzz’s in the margin did now and then wrench my soul from its moorings. She was right, though. As always.

  I thank my friends Carrie Dolan and Robin Marantz Henig, both excellent writers, for also reading critical portions of the manuscript and advising me on how to adjust the narrative to enhance clarity and pace.

  I am grateful also to my Italian teacher, Robert—Roberto—Strait, whose gift for acquiring language is exceeded only by his knack for conveying its secrets to his students. Italian is a gorgeous, dynamic language. Even the simplest phrase, if delivered with gusto, can sound magnificent.

  My travels for this book occurred at a time when public opinion of America could not have been lower, but I was always treated with kindness and generosity. In Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, everyone is your friend. Immedia
tely. In Italy, everyone wants to feed you. In Britain, every question I asked was met with warmth and humor. And the tea, as always, was marvelous.

  ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

  Part I:

  Guglielmo Marconi portrait reproduced by courtesy of Essex Record Office.

  Part III:

  Portrait of kite launch courtesy of The Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MSS Marconi.

  Part V:

  Portrait of Beatrice O’Brien reproduced by courtesy of Essex Record Office.

  Notes and Sources:

  Alvin Langdon Coburn, St. Paul’s from Ludgate Circus, from the book London, 1910; photogravure; Collection of the Prentice and Paul Sack Photographic Trust, courtesy of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

  Front endpaper:

  Bacon’s 1902 Map of London © Old House Books (www.OldHouseBooks.co.uk).

  Rear endpaper:

  Map of the North Atlantic by Mapping Specialists, Ltd.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ERIK LARSON IS THE AUTHOR of The Devil in the White City, which won an Edgar Award for nonfiction, was a finalist for a National Book Award, and remained on the bestseller lists of the New York Times for well over two years. He also wrote the best-selling Isaac’s Storm, about a hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas, in 1900. He has written for a variety of national magazines and is a former staff writer for the Wall Street Journal and Time magazine. He lives in Seattle with his wife and three daughters, and a golden retriever named Molly.

  ALSO BY ERIK LARSON

  The Devil in the White City

  Isaac’s Storm

  Lethal Passage

  The Naked Consumer

  Copyright © 2006 by Erik Larson

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  www.crownpublishing.com

  CROWN is a trademark and the Crown colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Larson, Erik

  Thunderstruck / Erik Larson.

  Includes biographical references.

  1. Crippen, Hawley Harvey, 1862–1910.

  2. Murderers—England—London—Biography.

  3. Murder—England—London—Case studies.

  4. Murder—Investigation—Great Britain—Case Studies.

  5. Telegraph, Wireless—Marconi system—History. I. Title.

  HV6248.C75L37 2006

  364.152'309421—dc22

  2006011908

  eISBN: 978-0-307-35192-0

  v3.0

 

 

 


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