Thunderstruck

Book Description

A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s “great hush”

In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication—whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.

Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners, scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed, and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: the wireless, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, “the kindest of men,” nearly commits the perfect crime.

With his superb narrative skills, Erik Larson guides these parallel narratives toward a relentlessly suspenseful meeting on the waters of the North Atlantic. Along the way, he tells of a sad and tragic love affair that was described on the front pages of newspapers around the world, a chief inspector who found himself strangely sympathetic to the killer and his lover, and a driven and compelling inventor who transformed the way we communicate. Thunderstruck presents a vibrant portrait of an era of séances, science, and fog, inhabited by inventors, magicians, and Scotland Yard detectives, all presided over by the amiable and fun-loving Edward VII as the world slid inevitably toward the first great war of the twentieth century. Gripping from the first page, and rich with fascinating detail about the time, the people, and the new inventions that connect and divide us, Thunderstruck is splendid narrative history from a master of the form.

Customer Reviews:

Quite good, but I hope Larson doesn't get too formulaic........2007-10-01

No doubt about it, Thunderstruck is a good book. Erik Larson introduces you to Marconi, the Italian tinkerer/entrepreneur who took the budding technology of wireless and turned it into a commercially viable endeavor. It's a good story; Marconi has bitter and active rivals in the scientific and business communities, he has his own white whale (sending a signal all the way across the Atlantic Ocean) and he has trouble with normal human relations which makes for some engaging misadventures on the personal front. Not only is the story interesting and fun to read, it's also well-researched and well-written and you learn some history along the way with absolutely no pain. So far, so good.

Then, Larson introduces you to a kindly American doctor who marries a woman who is an unkind, duplicitous user of people. He takes you on a journey through their troubled relationship which eventually carries them to London where both seem to have inappropriate extra-marital relationships while trying to keep up appearances in public of a solid marriage. Things continue along until one night the wife pushes the timid doctor just a little too far and... you'll have to read the book.

Not a bad story either, and the two stories eventually come together as they always do in Larson's books, which brings me to a concern: I hope Larson doesn't limit himself to a single formula where a crime story and a more traditional historic tale come together in the end. It's not that it's a bad idea, it's just starting to feel forced in this book, especially after Devil in the White City. Larson is a very strong researcher and a great writer and story-teller. He could easily do a more traditional history book and make it come alive without the help of a crime tale.

Still highly recommended, just hoping Larson's next book doesn't feel compelled to be just like its two fore bearers.

Not up to Par..........2007-08-18

Larson is going down hill. Isaac's Storm was fabulous... his other titles pale in comparison.

The Roll of Disparate Thunder.......2007-08-17

THUNDERSTRUCK is a splendid work of non-fiction that engages the reader as well as any novel. The author deftly combines the stories of two disparate lives -- Gugliemo Marconi, inventor of the wireless, and Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, milquetoast doctor, husband, and murderer. The latter would become the first criminal tracked and captured with the assistance of wireless communication.

Erik Larsen, whose DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY engaging recounts murder in Chicago at the time of the 1893 World's Fair, this time turns his attention to the late 1890s and 1900s in London. He possesses a singular gift for both storytelling and for weaving plotlines to a thrilling climax. Both stories are engaging in their own right; together, they are retold in a strikingly refreshing way. Highly recommended.

My first (but not my last) work by Eric Larsen.......2007-08-09

In "Thunderstruck," the author Eric Larsen intertwines a "standard" history -- Marconi's commercialization of wireless telegraphy -- with a lurid one -- the mystery of the life of Dr. Hawley Crippen and mysterious disappearance of his opera wannabee wife, Belle Elmore. Larsen bounces back and forth between the two tales, which overlap loosely in time. Marconi's story takes place mostly between 1895 (the year of his first demonstration of wireless communication at significant distances) and 1910. The Crippen story focuses mostly on the years preceding the critical year of 1910. Nevertheless, both stories are on a collision course, and the final denouement involves telegraphy and the way it resolved one important facet of the Crippen/Elmore case.

"Thunderstruck" is *not* historical fiction. Both stories are taken painstakingly from the newspapers, diaries, public files and other records of the day. This was a quite a relief to me, since I have a distrust of "histories" that have more than a little of the authors' reconstructions of important events. In this book, you will learn about the British cultural biases that made Marconi's work difficult, as well as of Marconi's own obsessive, secretive, anti-social and egoistical temperament that more than once nearly derailed his venture. You'll be taken to Poldhu Station in Wales and to the North American stations on windswept Cape Cod and isolated, frigid Newfoundland. You'll accompany Marconi and his crew as they toil for months to set up the absurdly overpowered equipment that sent (or did it?) the series of dits that demonstrated Marconi's ability to send signals across the Atlantic. You'll experience the first breaking of "The Great Hush" and the greater loneliness that enveloped the world prior to the advent of long-range telegraphy and radio. You'll also thrill to the intimate details of the lives of mousy Dr. Crippen, his diva of a wife and their circle of theatrical friends. You'll learn a bit about homeopathy and allopathy, and learn how these "sciences" used lethal substances to treat disease. Throw in a few inspectors from Scotland Yard, a wily and discreet sea captain, pompous British scientists, an abandoned wife and a pre-WWI German spy, and you have the making of a fascinating reading experience.

"Thunderstruck" is fast-paced, informative and thrilling. By placing these two stories together, Larsen made both more interesting than they would have been alone. Bravo!

A word to those with weak stomachs: sections of the book are quite gory!

Interesting read, but not gripping.......2007-07-23

I read this book just after having finished Devil in the White City. I guess I may have expected the same gripping suspense from this novel as the other, but alas, it was not to be. The murder is but a side note in the book, used only to show the importance of Marconi's discovery in the end. And although I am interested in science, I admit that when I read a work of historical fiction I don't want to be drug through every painful machination on the way to discovery.
It just didn't grip me and that was a disapointment.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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HISTORY WITHOUT GLOSS
Crime and justice in Victorian England
Survival of the Fittest
IT ELOQUENTLY PORTAYS ATMOSPHERE AND INTENCE EMMOTION.

The Victorian Underworld
Donald Thomas
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0814782388
Release Date: 1998-09-01

Book Description

William Makepeace Thackeray once wrote that the wonders of the Victorian underworld "have been lying by your door and mine ever since we had a door of our own." Donald Thomas here pushes open that door to reveal a world at once both strange and strangely familiar, inviting casual voyeur and serious historian alike to cross its threshold.

Applying his talent for colorful biography to chronicle an entire age, Thomas shows us an underworld through the eyes of its inhabitants. Defined by night houses and cigar divans, populated by street people like the running-patterer with his news of murder, and entertainers like the Fire King, the underworld was an insular yet diffuse community, united by its deep hatred of the police. In its gin shops and taverns, thrived thieves and beggars, cheats, forgers, and pickpockets, preying on rich and poor alike.

Career criminals often showed a craftsmanship that would put their descendants to shame. It took true professionals to remove the modern equivalent of twenty million dollars from the Bank of England. In one case, conspirators even recruited officers from Scotland Yard.

Those who failed in such enterprises found themselves in the convict hulks, where the annual mortality rate might reach 40 percent, or in the new prisons, their faces masked and identified only by numbers. Rich in anecdote and vividly recounted, The Victorian Underworld brings the past alive like few recent works of history.

Customer Reviews:

HISTORY WITHOUT GLOSS.......2002-01-27

When historians create their tomes they glorify and even fabricate information in order to make their nation appear as prolific as possible. "Victorian Underworld" is a view of this era of Britain's history that is rarely, if ever, exhibited. It is an overview of the conditions of the underclass, of which, in all contemporary nations are the largest portion of the population. "Victorian England" concentrates on the manner in which the bulk of the population, the 'commoners' either lived their lives or the obstacles the public endeavoured to avoid. The writing style is as enticing as grand fiction which brings an air of titillation to this factual documentation of history.

Crime and justice in Victorian England.......1999-12-02

Readers of British social history might enjoy this work. The first half ("Crime") draws very heavily--perhaps too heavily--from the works of 19th-century writer Henry Mahew. (Oddly, the Amazon listing shows Mahew as co-author, but he is not listed as co-author in the book itself.) We're treated to a detailed description of slum living conditions, criminal scams of the era, cheating on horse races, early pornography, and prostitution. A variety of detailed narratives give the book a personal touch; it's not dry reading. The most astonishing tidbit in this book is that in Victorian London, there was a ratio of one prostitute for every ten adult males!

The second half of the book ("Retribution") covers the jails of the era, police corruption, hangings of wrongly convicted people, and the workings of the court system, spiced with a variety of narratives about actual people. On the other hand, the most irritating feature of the book is that the index lists only names of persons, not topics.

Survival of the Fittest.......1999-02-22

What a relief to sit comfortably ensconsed in a different century! The author points out the cruelty of everyday life under the reign of Queen Victoria and the futility of the struggle to survive. It should be a lesson to all of us nowadays when we complain about the tough life we have to endure.We have come a long way! While the narration certainly is very interesting, it also seems curiously flat and without a lively soul. Maybe that stems from the fact that much of the book has a few sources only and just seems to copy them. Also, the back and forth of the time frame makes it somewhat incoherent. It would have helped a great deal to include a few maps of London.

IT ELOQUENTLY PORTAYS ATMOSPHERE AND INTENCE EMMOTION........1998-10-03

AS AN AVID VICTORIAN FAN I FOUND MYSELF HYPNOTIZED BY THE SWIRL OF HISTORICAL DRAMA.

Crime, Gender And Consumer Culture In Nineteenth-Century England (The History of Retailing and Consumption)

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Crime, Gender And Consumer Culture In Nineteenth-Century England (The History of Retailing and Consumption)
Tammy C. Whitlock
Manufacturer: Ashgate Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0754652076

The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another

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Getting To A Nub
A Total Travesty
A fascinating and entertaining - but poorly edited - account
Everything Old is New Again
very well researched

The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another
W. Travis Hanes , and Frank Sanello
Manufacturer: Sourcebooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1402201494

Customer Reviews:

Getting To A Nub.......2006-11-06

Colourful history that tends to ask more questions than provide answers. Not as successful as Maurice Collins' 1946 classic "Foreign Mud".

Deeper research is still needed into the merchant companies, their composition and practices, that participated in the opium trade world-wide: a trade that made huge fortunes for individuals and Imperial nations in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A Total Travesty.......2006-10-21

This book represents literally the worst scholarship I have ever seen. It makes no pretense of careful, thorough, or new research into its subject, but relies almost exclusively on two secondary sources--both in English, both still in print. Its dependence on Jack Beeching's book on the same subject is so thorough that it renders this book completely superfluous. I feel like my time and money were wasted on this when I could have skipped it entirely and headed directly to the source.

In addition to its total lack of new insight into the subject, the book seems not have benefitted from editorial oversight prior to publication. In one chapter, the same quotation is used in two different contexts, citing two different sources, with no attempt at explanation. Indeed, I was surprised to find several ungrammatical sentences scattered throughout, as if an early draft had somehow made it to the presses. If this was a term paper, it would have been handed back for a rewrite. There is no excuse for something of such poor quality sitting on bookstore shelves.

It is insulting to the reader that this book was ever allowed to the see the light of day. The authors ought to have their academic credentials revoked.

A fascinating and entertaining - but poorly edited - account .......2006-08-30

...of gunboat diplomacy in perhaps its most tragic and despicable grandeur. I enjoyed this book and learned a great deal about an intriguing but, by me, previously unexplored history of events. Anyone who is interested in modern Chinese history and affairs including East/West relations would, I think, greatly benefit from a study of the events covered in this book. The UK, which thanks to Wilberforce and others, had suppressed the African slave trade, squandered so much of its moral authority in trying to force a dysfunctional Imperial China into commercial relationships that would fund the UK addction to Chinese silk and tea. Virtually all the Brits could find to sell the Middle Kingdom was opium and thus the UK became a sanctimonious, hypocritical superpower insisting that China admit, on the one hand, missionaries to preach the Gospel and liberate Chinese souls and, on the other, opium merchants to ensnare Chinese addicts and their treasure. (As another reviewer noted, it is hard indeed to read of the events in this book and not be reminded of how modern addictions of cheap petroleum and drugs have had a deleterious effect on the US balance of payments, foreign policy, and world image.) However, whether this particular volume would, for the serious scholar, be the best book on this fascinating subject, I cannot say. Reading it, I was constantly struck by the conviction that this book would have benefitted enormously had it been placed in the respective hands of a well-informed critic and a good editor prior to being published. I enjoyed the authors' hip and humorous style - each chapter reminded me of an entertaining college lecture - but since I found the editing so wanting, I was less confident in how thorough, balanced, and reliable the authors actually were with the mass of information they presented.

Everything Old is New Again.......2006-04-22

War as window dressing.

Tea in China. Oil in Indonesia. Oil in the Gulf.

Opium in India. Opium in Cambodia. Opium in Afghanistan.

Trade lobbyists in London. Trade lobbyists in Washington.

Tax addicts in Parliament. Tax addicts in Congress.

Profit imperative. World domination.

Hot topics too hot for anyone with SUVs, weekend boats, wives or children to handle.

TOW explains (to me, anyway) why the mercantilists got the Islamic crazies to "start" the war:

Hypnotics for the Yellow Peril.

Oil for the equally addicted over here.

Taxes for the 'crats.

Sigh.

very well researched.......2006-01-16

This is a very good book , indicating a lot of research and studies

For the layman who has no knowledge of China's decline in the 18th and 19th centuries, this a must-read.

There are, to me, a few points of inaccuracies and incompletenss about Hong Xiuquan and his Taiping Tianguo.Hong's fall was not
solely due to Zeng Guofeng. The English mercenary General Charles Gordon was not mentioned at all. In addition, in-fighting and disunity among Hong's subordinates played a very crucial role.

None the less, the book is highly recommended

White-Collar Crime in Modern England: Financial Fraud and Business Morality, 18451929

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White-Collar Crime in Modern England: Financial Fraud and Business Morality, 18451929
George Robb
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521526124

Book Description

In the period between the 1840s and the 1920s the British economy was transformed, from small-scale capitalism dominated by individual traders and partnerships to a complex financial structure dominated by large, joint-stock companies. The tremendous growth of big business created a world of new opportunities for criminal exploitation. The promotion and management of public companies and the trading of commercial securities proved vulnerable to the white-collar crimes of fraud and embezzlement. Problems of financial fraud were exacerbated by a climate of laissez-faire which championed the most permissive commercial legislation in the world, and white-collar crime wreaked havoc on the modern British economy. This new book examines the spread of white-collar crime from the Victorian period to the early twentieth century and offers a new perspective on modern scandals.

The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe

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fascinating chapter in English history.
Great Archival Work, Terrible Writing/Editing
Actually 4 1/2 stars...
Well-researched but sometimes tedious
nice little historical who dun it! utterly brilliant work

The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe
Charles Nicholl
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226580245

Book Description

In 1593 the brilliant but controversial young playwright Christopher Marlowe was stabbed to death in a Deptford lodging house. The circumstances were shady, the official account--a violent quarrel over the bill, or "recknynge"--has been long regarded as dubious.

Here, in a tour de force of scholarship and ingenuity, Charles Nicholl penetrates four centuries of obscurity to reveal not only a complex and unsettling story of entrapment and betrayal, chimerical plot and sordid felonies, but also a fascinating vision of the underside of the Elizabethan world.

"Provides the sheer enjoyment of fiction, and might just be true."--Michael Kenney, Boston Globe

"Mr. Nicholl's glittering reconstruction of Marlowe's murder is only one of the many fascinating aspects of this book. Indeed, The Reckoning is equally compelling for its masterly evocation of a vanished world, a world of Elizabethan scholars, poets, con men, alchemists and spies, a world of Machiavellian malice, intrigue and dissent."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

"The rich substance of the book is his detail, the thick texture of betrayal and evasion which was Marlowe's life."--Thomas Flanagan, Washington Post Book World

Winner of the Crime Writer's Gold Dagger Award for Nonfiction Thriller

Customer Reviews:

fascinating chapter in English history........2007-03-13

Other reviewers indicate this is a tedious book. I can't agree. It was a terribly complex time, and Charles Nicholl admirably puts that point across. We think of today as being an espionage era, but the Elizabethan times were even worse. Curiously the Queen is no where near the center of the puzzle. I found the unraveling of the puzzle to be of almost operatic proportions, and the difficulties in reading only made me pursue the read with more tenacity. I've read the book twice and find that, if I had trouble keeping the good people straight, I have to think those actually living and eking out a living back then did so, too.

Great Archival Work, Terrible Writing/Editing.......2006-03-14

There are only three reasons to read this prize-winning reconstruction of the events surrounding the death of Elizabethan playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe: (1) if you have some particular previous interest in Marlowe; (2) if you have a particular interest in Elizabethan politics, international relations, and espionage circa 1580-1600; (3) if you are interested in the use of archival materials to tell a story. I came to this book for none of these reasons, and so found it sporadically interesting, but overall rather tedious and agonizing to read. Nicholl's strategy is to examine the biographies of the other people in Marlowe's life (including those present at his killing/murder), and to try and connect them to the larger political context. It was a time of deep intrigue, with Elizabeth's court deeply concerned about a Franco-Spanish Catholic invasion and a Catholic fifth column inside England. Plots abounded and there was a correspondingly extensive murky world of informants, semi-official spies, dirty tricks, and many agents provocateur.

Nicholl attempts to position Marlowe within this world as a sometime government spy on the Catholics, and tries to demonstrate how many writers turned to such intelligence work in order to make a more comfortable living. As educated men with skills in foreign languages, writers were often forced to supplement their meager writing income by whatever means they could, and spycraft offered a fairly lucrative, if somewhat dangerous option. The problem was that it was all to easy to get caught up in some complex double- or triple-cross, and secure patronage was very hard to maintain. Nicholl provides examples of various agents who were arrested based on flimsy denunciations and paid for it with their lives. His ultimate, unprovable hypothesis is that Marlowe was a small fish who got in the way of court jockeying for position in relation to all this, and that the Earl of Essex ordered that he be dealt with. The book is full of speculation and leaps of conjecture that will have history buffs gnashing their teeth in annoyance, but he does establish some things rather persuasively. If nothing else, it should put to bed the notion that Marlowe died in some brawl over a tavern bar tab. The setting was actually the home of a respectable widow with high court connections, it was a private meeting between Marlowe and three others which started in the morning and lasted all day, and the three other men involved were all part of the demimonde of Elizabethan espionage.

While I admire Nicholl's extensive archival work in piecing together events from some 400 years ago from so many different obscure sources, the prose is so laden with extraneous details and tangents that it's hard to keep track of what is truly relevant. No figure is too trivial to merit inclusion -- for example, consider that a quick survey of the index shows some 364 different names listed, which works out to the reader having to absorb slightly more than one new person per page. This is especially irksome given that a little more than half of these individuals appear only once in the narrative! Moreover, spot checking ten pages turned up another seven names not in the index-so perhaps the book has a cast of some 500 people! A good example of how this plays out of the prose can be found on page 179: "Like Ingram Frizer at Deptford, Watson and Marlowe stood their ground. They were arrested by the constable of the precinct, Stephen Wyld, a tailor, and marched off to the nearest Justice. This was Sir Owen Hopton, Lieutenant of the Tower of London, whose home was at Norton Folgate. Later that day they were led to Newgate prison..." If one rewrote the above omitting the extraneous detail, it would read as follows: "Watson and Marlowe stood their ground and were arrested and taken to Newgate prison." This is just one example of how Nicholl's account would have benefited from a tighter focus and control over the material, as he appears overeager to share every last archival finding with the reader, at the expense of lucid prose. Ultimately, it's a book whose value depends largely on the reader's interest in the three areas mentioned above.

Actually 4 1/2 stars..........2005-03-06

Many of the other reviews have nailed it. Nicholl has done an extraordinary job of gathering the available evidence to present a seemingly strong case for Marlowe's espionage work and murder. What he hasn't really done is write a gripping story about Christopher Marlowe. The Marlowe chapters are good, and there are several other chapters that aren't about Marlowe but are still good, though I wonder what they're doing in here. It's like he didn't have quite enough material for a book-length manuscript on Marlowe's murder, so he threw in lots of other (admittedly very interesting) stuff. For instance, there's a lot about the Babington conspiracy, which does give one a good insight into the intelligence world of the times, but oops, sorry, has nothing to do with Marlowe per se. Still, I'm glad Nicholl got it published as a book rather than a scholarly article (which is more what it reads like), since this way there's a much greater chance more people will find it and read it.

Well-researched but sometimes tedious.......2004-02-25

For assiduous research into Marlowe's life and times, THE RECKONING deserves five stars. For pure entertainment value, I would give it only three. So I've split the difference.

It's impossible to deny the hard work and exhaustive research that went into this densely argued book. Nicholl discovered previously unknown tidbits of fact about Marlowe and other Elizabethan figures (and he is not shy about announcing his role in these discoveries). Unfortunately, the sheer number of digressions into the minutiae of Elizabethan spycraft began to wear on me after a while. At one point Nicholl himself admits that a certain story he is recounting is "wearyingly familiar," as indeed it is - we've read it all before, again and again, in the lives of various minor poets and sometime spies reconstructed throughout the book. Some of these folks are directly connected with Marlowe, some have only the most tangential relationship, and others are dragged in just for atmosphere. An examination of the events in Deptford that left Marlowe dead occupies the first and last sections of THE RECKONING, but the long middle portion is devoted to establishing the background of the killing - a background that seemingly incorporates every single fact Nicholl was able to dig up during months or years of poring through archival documents. It can be "wearying" indeed, not to mention mind-numbing. Still, there is important information here for those interested in the period. Just don't expect a quick or easy read.

nice little historical who dun it! utterly brilliant work.......2003-11-23

I love history and all the details. I also love riddles and mysteries. So, when someone combines both into a tale, as Charles Nicholl did, it's bound to please me. This book is the Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography and the Crime Writers' Gold Dagger Awards for non-fiction thriller - both well earned!!

Marlowe was a very controversial poet and playwright. In 1593, he was stabbed to death in a lodging house in Deptford. To say the least, the manner and circumstances of death was up to question. There was a violent quarrel concerning Marlowe's bill and the official finding has been called dubious at best.

Nicholl brings to life this historical riddle with style and ingenuity weaving facts, supposition and fiction into one wonderful mix. He presents a very complex study of Marlowe's death, but it is also a marvellous study of the seedier side of Elizabethan society.

Nicholl walks the masterful tightrope between historical study on Marlowe's murder, a well-written 'who dun it' and portrays with rich detail the period that leaves one wondering if he is not reincarnated!!

Book Description

Long live the Queen! A magnificent Queen Elizabeth I reigned in the movie Shakespeare in Love, but it is the younger queen of the film Elizabeth whom we meet in Fiona Buckley's acclaimed Ursula Blanchard mystery series.

It's 1562 and Catholic Spain threatens the stability of Protestant England. In France, the Protestant Huguenots also face threats from the powerful Catholics. Fearing that such pro-Catholic movements might spread to England, Elizabeth hopes to mediate a peace between the two French factions.

Enter Ursula Blanchard, twenty-seven-year-old Lady of the Presence Chamber, who has a special mandate from Sir William Cecil, Secretary of State, to spy on behalf of the queen. Nearly the same age as Elizabeth, Ursula has already proved herself worthy of the queen's gratitude in difficult and dangerous situations.

The queen wants Ursula to go to France, where civil war may break out at any moment, to hand-carry a letter from Elizabeth to France's queen mother and regent, Catherine de Médicis. To keep her mission secret, Ursula will ostensibly accompany her former father-in-law, Luke Blanchard, a man she neither likes nor trusts, when he travels to France to fetch his young ward, Helene, to the safety of England.

Ursula has the queen's protection and she has with her her faithful servants Brockley and Dale. But she soon realizes that sinister forces threaten her. Is someone trying to prevent her from delivering the letter? Whom can she trust? Luke Blanchard? Helene? Her servants? Anthony Jenkinson, the blithe merchant adventurer whose path crosses hers and who has enemies of his own? Can she be sure even of the queen? What will happen to Meg, her little daughter left behind in England, if she fails to return?

Perhaps the most poignant of all, Ursula's second husband, Matthew, a Frenchman and an enemy of Elizabeth, is somewhere in France, but can she see him without bringing disaster on both of them? There is powerful chemistry between them but what is their destiny?

Ursula soon learns that she faces an enemy who will stop at nothing -- not murder, not torture, not charges of heresy that may lead to burning at the stake -- to destroy her. To prevail, she must undertake a desperate new mission of her own, with an innocent life at risk.

Murder, treason, treasure, passion -- they all combine to make a compelling historical mystery from an author whose vast knowledge of the period adds depth and color to this riveting new series.

Download Description

The third book in Fiona Buckley's acclaimed historical mystery series, begun in To Shield the Queen and The Doublet Affair, brilliantly transports readers to the 1560s, and to the court of twenty-eight-year-old Elizabeth. Here Lady-in-Waiting Ursula Blanchard has a mandate from the Secretary of State to spy on behalf of the Queen. Although she has already proven herself worthy of the Queen's gratitude, Ursula now must travel to France, where civil war may break out at any moment, to hand-carry a letter from Elizabeth to the Queen Mother and Regent, Catherine. The mission to mediate peace between warring Protestant and Catholic French factions seems clear, but there are hidden forces at work. Whom can Ursula trust? What will happen to her daughter if she fails? And what are the chances -- and consequences -- of a reunion with her second husband, a Frenchman and enemy of Elizabeth's? This tale of murder, treason, treasure, and passion effortlessly and accurately conveys the high tension of the court of young Queen Elizabeth I.

Customer Reviews:

Queen's Ramsom.......2006-06-29

I have enjoyed all of Fiona Buckley books (Mystery at Queen Elizabeth I's Court series).

Very uneven in quality.......2002-11-19

I had liked the first couple of books in this series - on the plus side, these are very rich in their historical content. They could qualify as historical novels in addition to mysteries. This novel contains some wonderful story-telling, which is almost enough to make me overlook some of the doubtful plotting. The "Ransom" part of this book seems almost perversely written for the express purpose of being anachronistic - in the author's eagerness to show how democratic Ursula, the protagonist is, she also makes her rather naively simple and open. Ursula is supposed to be a shrewd woman and a clever secret agent.

The main problem is with Ursula. She is a little too contemporary. I can understand her chafing at the restrictions on women during this period, but she does not try deal with them in an intelligent, realistic way.

The rest of the review is something of a spoiler, so you may want to skip it if you haven't read the book.

What has really ended my interest in this series is her on-again, off-again interest in her second husband. Even today I would find her vacillating incredibly selfish - if she isn't going to work on her marriage, why didn't she work harder to end it by an annullment!

In its time period, it's even worse - she can't fly off somewhere and get a quickie divorce if she changes her mind. Initially, she & Matthew were very attracted to one another, but he forced her into marriage, thinking that he was doing her a favor; she fled. I could understand if she never wanted to see him again, but now that she has voluntarily gone to live with him, there is no hope of an annullment. What does she mean that she hasn't decided if she is going to stay with her husband? Does it seem likely that this 16th century man is going to tamely let her leave after all this, particularly given that he might not be able to end the marriage and remarry? This book portrays Matthew in a particularly favorable light, and I find myself thinking that he deserves better than Ursula.

Not a series that I'll continue with.

Fiona Buckley-A True Diva of Historical Mysteries.......2001-10-15

Fiona Buckley's third Ursula Blanchard/de la Roche mystery was a facinating read. The plot was complex, realistic, imaginative,smart, and VERY well-written. I found Ursula to be both a femanist and one overtaken by femanine emotions, a devious antogonist and angelic protagonist, a sage soul in desperate need of guidance. There were parts of this book in which I was laughing. At other parts, I felt like crying. I have perchased this book and urge any lover of a good historical mystery to do so also. The setting is vibrant and well-reasearched, the characters are well-written, the plot is realistic to a facinating degree, and the overall book is a true page-turner. Five stars isn't nearly enough to praise "A Queen's Ransom". Fiona Buckley is a true diva not only of historical mysteries, but of writing in general. She is a creative force to be reconned with.

So disappointed.......2001-08-20

The second book in this series was so imaginative that this one was a real letdown. A problem in many historical novels (call this a mystery, I cannot) is that the characters act too contemporary for the time period. I would have preferred that to Ursula's turning in to a "Had I But Known" gothic heroine. And what's with the missing two years at the end? I'll probably never know because I certainly won't be looking for any future entries in this series.

Another compelling look at the intrigues of court........2000-05-30

This is an outstanding mystery series for lovers of historical fiction, and although this entry may lack the punch of the first two (there seemed to be too few real surprises) the book is still a worthwhile read. The mystery is solid and interesting, the characters are complex, and the description of time and place is unbeatable.

Amazon.com

Set against a backdrop of crumbling buildings--the result of hasty, cheap efforts at "urban renewal" after the Great Fire of 1666--and beautifully illustrated with William Hogarth's moralistic woodcuts, The Thieves' Opera charts the meteoric rise and fall of two of early-18th-century London's more colorful characters. The ruthless "lawman" Jonathan Wild was an early mastermind of organized crime who operated more or less within the boundaries of official approval; the slippery, mischievous Jack Sheppard had a knack for prison escapes and defiance of pompous authority that made him a sort of burglar-hero among the commoners of London.

Lucy Moore shows how Wild became London's unofficial "Thief-Taker General." Working under the auspices of London's lackadaisical officialdom, he made his career returning stolen goods to their proper owners for a fee; unknown to the victims, he negotiated directly with the robbers and often oversaw the original thefts. He discouraged competition, with punishments and reprisal that evoke contemporary Mob hits. On the other side of the coin is Sheppard, who lacked the ambition of Wild, but performed his crimes with a flair that in many cases robbed his victims of even the desire to hold a grudge against him.

Moore excels at supplying crucial illuminations of early-18th-century London street life with descriptions of coffee houses and public plazas so vivid you feel you've visited them. She emancipates the era from the quaint, manneristic drawing-room notions of ritualized emotions and unrequited love portrayed by modern-day "historical" fiction and film. Moore's London is filthy, chaotic, and hellish, a black den thick with thieves and "protected" by agents of law barely more scrupulous. With its large cast of cutpurses, highwaymen, footpads, prostitutes, and jailers (and jailed), The Thieves' Opera evokes more the Wild West of 19th-century America than it does refined British society. --Tjames Madison

Book Description

The criminal underworld of Georgian London, the notorious “Thief-Taker” Jonathan Wild, and infamous housebreaker Jack Sheppard are the subjects in this deftly told history.

Customer Reviews:

Criminal Social History Rather than Historical True Crime.......2003-11-12

I bought this book because I have a weakness for accounts of historical crimes. Luckily I also have a weakness for social history because this book is more about the (mainly) London social conditions of the early 18th century than the crimes of the Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wilde.

It was interesting to be reading about the accused Jacobite who spent 30+ years in prison although he was not proved to be a traitor because he would not swear allegiance to the King of England-- Sheer stubbornness?-- at the same time that the Supreme Court has agreed to look at the case of the Guam detainees who have yet to be charged or tried by any legal body.

The author makes an argument that Jack Sheppard turned to crime because he was foreclosed from lawfully practicing his trade (carpenter) while Jonathan Wilde utilized a certain genius for organization to create the best organized thieves' gang of the era because that was the only opportunity open to him. While I am unable to buy her theory wholesale, the tidbits she provides about life in the early 18th century are well worth acquiring. I would wish that the Hogarth illustrations were larger and clearer but they provide a nice addition to the text.

However, I do have questions about the reliability of some of her sources. A couple of the things she mentioned as fact sound more like pure male fantasy or at best urban legends.

Not badly written and not boring.

Subject only skimmed.......2001-09-27

The lives of Johnathan Wild and Tom Sheppard could have been told with so much more color. For the most part, I steadfastly plowed through this mostly boring book just to absorb some facts. It was rarely entertaining. The author mostly writes in a formal style. But, then occasionally she will throw in a zinger using conversational English. These breaks with formality were refreshing, interesting and I appreciated it. The most interesting parts of the book were the descriptions of the times, such as the laws, customs, homes, prisons, bribery and corruption, hangings, etc. The author gave an altogether graphic picture of what happens when a person is hanged.

Not nearly as good as I expected.......2001-08-25

I was disappointed in this book. Even though the author succeeds in painting quite a clear canvas of eighteenth-century London's underworld, she fails to make her subject - the two famed criminals - interesting. I didn't find their personalities gripping, or their stories attractive in the least. The narrative is reiterative, the same things being mentioned again and again, and disjointed, lacking cohesiveness. Curiously, the most interesting parts were those which were accessory to the main story, such as the description of the legal system and medical practice. I wouldn't completely dismiss Lucy Moore as a historian, though - she undoubtedly has done a thorough research, and is not totally ungifted as a writer - but I still think this material would have merited a better rendering.

Crime and Punishment.......2001-01-21

Lucy Moore, in The Thieves' Opera, has explored an interesting topic that takes the reader through the world of London from the slums to, on occasion, the mansions. Using the characters of Jonathan Wild and the folk hero/criminal Jack Sheppard, the author expands the narrative to show the entire world of crime and punishment that existed at this time. Very little seemed, at times, to separate those committing the crimes from those prosecuting the criminals and it is easy to see why Jack Sheppard, with his numerous escapes, could become such a hero in such a corrupt system. The story is told in a way that leads the reader from the beginnings of a system that would lead to crime to the execution of the criminal. The two lead criminals sometimes fall by the wayside in their own story but interest is maintained nonetheless by looking at the larger canvas. An interesting read.

History has never been this enjoyable!.......2000-12-29

This fabulously written historical account is put together so well, you forget you're actually getting a history lesson. As a historical romance writer who is often looking to devour books on certain subjects, I find it very difficult to find books that portray history in a vivid manner which makes it easy to swallow several years of history in one sitting without pausing to think 'what in heck is this person talking about?'. The most wonderful aspect of this book on 'criminal' subjects of the 18th century, is that Lucy Moore (the author, of course!) weaves history through the means of beautiful, but simple story telling. And what this means for anyone picking up this book is that history not only can be finally understood, but also re-lived.

The Regency Underworld (Sutton History Classics)

Average customer rating:

Fascinating and lively portrayal

The Regency Underworld (Sutton History Classics)
Donald A. Low
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0750940476

Book Description

Alongside the world of Pride and Prejudice and Vanity Fair, Byron and Keats, there also existed a pulsating underworld where crime and vice of every kind flourished. This book ventures into this forgotten world.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating and lively portrayal.......2000-04-21

The seamier side of London in the early nineteenth century written with flare. This book was an enjoyable romp through the back streets, slums and 'rookeries' of London and the attempts by authorities to control them.

The book is packed full of detail of the people of the time including some of the more famous characters such as fences and theives and the methods they used to continue their trade. You can read about 'Mudlarks and scuffle hunters' of the river Thames, or if you prefer, the 'resurrectionists' who traded in dead bodies for medical students.

Low also draws deeply on literature of the time such as Pierce Egan's "Life in London" which is chock full of authentic Regency-era slang. For instance Money could be referred to as "Blunt, rhino, flash the screens, sport the rhino, show the needful, post the pony, nap the rent, stump the pewter, tip the brads down with the dust only get into tip street."

Some great illustrations and a fun trip into the life among the lower orders.

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