Format in which I consumed this book: audiobook Did I like it/love it/hate it? Loved it What’s it about? About two-thirds of the book is about the planning, building, and final results of the Chicago World’s Fair in the 1890s and one-third is about the serial killer H. H. Holmes. It’s a fascinating examination of the World’s Fair, from why Chicago was chosen as the location to the struggles in getting people to attend once it was finished. It is also an examination of how […]

Thunderstruck is the story of Marconi and the first radio receiver/transmitter. It is also the story of the first murder solved by radio telegraphy. In that classic Erik Larson style, he weaves together two storylines, making a single cohesive narrative about some relatively dry history that becomes a thrilling race against time. Marconi invented radio telegraphy, aka the ability to wirelessly transmit telegraph signals. This was a critical invention, for at the time there was little understanding about radio waves, and monopolies on literal cable […]