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American Lightning : : Terror, Mystery, Movie-Making, and the Crime of the Century

Blum, Howard. Book - 2008 None on shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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A tale of murder, deceit, celebrity, media manipulation, and film as propaganda, when the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building in 1910 exposed a deadly "national dynamite plot" by trade unionists to terrorize America with one hundred bombings in a doomed attempt to force capitalism to its knees. The relentless pursuit, capture, trial, and punishment of the bombers made a national hero of master detective Billy Burns, and entangled crusading defense lawyer Clarence Darrow in a reckless, nearly career-ending scheme to bribe witnesses and jurors and throttle justice. Meanwhile, the events inspired D.W. Griffith to make his groundbreaking film The Birth of a Nation.

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Cover image for American lightning : : terror, mystery, movie-making, and the crime of the century


PUBLISHED
New York : Crown Publishers, c2008.
Year Published: 2008
Description: 339 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780307346940
0307346943

SUBJECTS
Otis, Harrison Gray, -- 1837-1917.
Bombings -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century.
Terrorism -- Los Angeles -- History -- 20th century.