Thunderstruck

Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck is a 2006 work of narrative nonfiction that braids two seemingly unrelated historical events that captured public attention in the pre-World War I years. The first involves the emerging and transformative technology of wireless communication designed by Marconi, the second a gruesome murder in London perpetrated by a seemingly docile and genial doctor named Crippen. Thunderstruck follows the success of Larson’s 2003 Devil in the White City, which coupled America’s first major serial killer with the Chicago World’s Fair. The book highlights the peculiarities of Edwardian London, exploring the public’s fascination with the occult, emerging sciences, and a growing distrust of foreigners that culminates in war with Germany. The book explores themes of missed opportunities and misunderstandings, alighting on the two perplexing and contradictory characters of Marconi and Crippen. Larsen is known for his meticulous attention to detail. The book received criticism for its slow delivery, especially in the segments detailing Marconi’s experimentation, and acclaim for its thorough detail regarding the Crippen murder. Larsen is a bestselling author with six books reaching the New York Times Bestseller list.

This guide refers to the 2006 Broadway Books edition.

Content Warning: The source material features a murder, including graphic details of the murder and the post-mortem investigations with descriptions of mutilated body parts. The source material also features a suicide, deaths from war, and accidental deaths.

Plot Summary

The story begins in 1910 on a transatlantic crossing as Captain Kendall of the Montrose spots a father and son who arouse suspicion. Kendall uses the Marconi to send a wireless transmission that will soon capture the public’s attention and transform how the world views wireless. For Kendall has found two fugitives hiding on his ship who are wanted for the most heinous murder in London since Jack the Ripper dominated headlines. The thing that makes the drama possible, and which keeps the public glued to the story, is wireless communication.

The narrative jumps back to 1892 when a widowed doctor named Hawley Harvey Crippen meets and weds an aspiring opera singer roughly half his age named Cora Turner. Their marriage is tumultuous, with Cora craving fame and attention while Crippen prefers quiet. After several moves, they find themselves in London, where Cora changes her name to Belle and joins a guild of artists. She has an open relationship with a man named Bruce Miller and threatens to leave Crippen frequently. Their marriage is miserable, and Crippen soon finds comfort in the arms of his secretary, Ethel Le Neve, who is young and takes pity on Crippen’s miserable existence.

In 1894, Marconi, at age 20, realizes that messages could be sent over long distances using Hertzian waves, and he sets about devising a machine to achieve his vision. A scientist named Oliver Lodge already had proved it was possible, though Lodge did not develop the technology further. Marconi is serious and focused and eventually succeeds in sending messages across short distances. With his mother, he travels to London, where he meets the chief electrician of the British Post Office, William Preece, who becomes Marconi’s mentor. Using the postal system’s vast network and assets, Marconi develops his device, eventually launching his own company and cutting Preece and the British Post Office out.

After hosting guests for a long dinner, Crippen claims to have awoken the next morning to an empty house and a letter from Belle claiming he should cover up her departure to avoid scandal. He informs the guild that she has left and, soon after, informs them that she died after a brief illness while in America. The guild does not believe Crippen’s account, and they go to New Scotland Yard with their concerns. Chief among their complaints is the fact that Crippen’s pretty secretary has moved into Crippen’s home and is wearing Belle’s jewelry.

Marconi becomes fixated on sending transatlantic wireless messages and commits many years to building massive towers to send and receive messages, relying on trial-and-error research, which results in unreliable technology. His efforts are met with skepticism and doubt, and he is loath to reveal his technology or offer sufficient proof of his scientific feats to dissolve suspicions. Although awarded the Nobel Prize for physics, Marconi admits he understands the science very little and instead is an inventor. Marconi loses several towers to bad weather and ice, and the resulting drain on the company nearly sinks his fortune.

An investigation into Belle’s disappearance ensues, led by Chief Investigator Dew. Under scrutiny, Crippen admits he lied about Belle’s departure and death and claims he does not know where she went, only that she fulfilled her long-threatened promise to leave him. Sensing they will not survive the scandal once his lies are revealed, Crippen convinces Le Neve to dress as a boy, and together, they escape London and board the Montrose bound for Canada. Meanwhile, Dew digs up the cellar at Crippen’s home and finds human remains, which reveal signs of poisoning. They launch a manhunt for Crippen and Le Neve. When Captain Kendall uses his Marconi to contact Scotland Yard, Dew sets out to beat the ship to Quebec and intercept Crippen. He succeeds in doing this, arresting Le Neve and Crippen at sea and extraditing them for trial, where Crippen is found guilty and hung. Le Neve is freed and lives out her life under a false identity, which she keeps until her death.

Marconi’s personal life is fraught with drama. He seeks one woman’s hand in marriage, only to have her break off the engagement. He eventually marries only to divorce and abandon his three children, then marries again, this time staying wed and leaving everything to his last wife and single daughter. Later in life, he becomes friends with Italian dictator Mussolini. Throughout his long career, focused on regaining credibility and enjoying the fame of his invention, he refuses to acknowledge those who helped build his empire, resulting in few friends and a long list of enemies.

More than anything Marconi could have done to publicize the practical uses of wireless, the public’s fascination with and fixation on Dr. Crippen and the ensuing manhunt at sea propelled Marconi’s device into favorable perception. Wireless made the capture of Crippen possible, and a year later, it made the rescue of the Titanic survivors possible as well. Shortly thereafter, the Marconi machines aboard British ships aided greatly in the war effort.