''American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century'' is a non-fiction book by
Howard Blum
Howard Blum () (born 1948) is an American author and journalist. Formerly a reporter for ''The Village Voice'' and ''The New York Times'', Blum is a contributing editor at '' Vanity Fair'' and the author of several non-fiction books, including t ...
, published in 2008.
Summary
The book is about the October 1, 1910
bombing of the ''Los Angeles Times'' building by
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
members. Iron Workers Union leaders James and John McNamara plead not guilty. The detective who found out that the bombers were the McNamaras was
Billy Burns, the head of
Burns Detective Agency Burns may refer to:
* Burn, an injury (plural)
People:
* Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters
Business:
* Burns London, a British guitar maker
Places:
;In the United States
* Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle C ...
. The book also includes a considerable amount of information about the defense lawyer
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the early 20th century for his involvement in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial and the Scopes "Monkey" Trial. He was a leading member of t ...
and film director
D. W. Griffith
David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
, who were involved in the case.
Reception
Ohline H. Cogdill wrote in the ''
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
'' that the book is epic, gripping, and a cohesive non-fiction thriller.
Richard Rayner
Richard Rayner (born 1955) is a British author who now lives in Los Angeles.
Early life
He was born on 15 December 1955 in the northern city of Bradford. Rayner attended schools in Yorkshire and Wales before studying philosophy and law at the U ...
wrote in the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' that the book is excellent and sheds valuable new light on the bombing.
Awards
*
Edgar Allan Poe Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
for Best Fact Crime, 2009
References
1910 crimes in the United States
Non-fiction crime books
2008 non-fiction books
{{crime-book-stub