A review by zbmorgan
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

4.0

While this takes a bit to get off the ground, Larson really turns history into a page turner. There are two stories successfully woven together here. The first is about Marconi, who harnesses radio waves to an achievable wireless radio output- but only from one end of the room to the other. He then sets up a business and gathers investors- which, arguably, slows him down a great deal. Watching him go from scientist to hustler was a little depressing- he probably would have had success a bit sooner broadcasting waves across the ocean if he hadn't spent so much time on business, but such are the risks of invention.
Meanwhile, a mild mannered Doctor is saddling himself with a high maintenance wife and finding his had to England, where he meets his true should mate. But what to do with that wife?
In my opinion, the murder mystery was far more fascinating than the story of Marconi, largely because we learn more about the characters of the people involved. Marconi was a cool customer, and the book would have been better served if he'd had more of a personal life to discuss. Larson might have also made it a bit more accessible : it's just assumed the reader knows the difference between wireless and telegraphy and how radio waves work, and it took me a while to understand that they were transmitting the SOUND of the morse code, and he completely neglects to mention when messages move from being transmitted in morse to when they are transmitted in voice, but still, a fascinating read. The last third of the book being so un-put-down able makes up for the slow first third.