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Reviews
"A crackerjack account of the race for electrification."
-San Francisco Chronicle"Jill Jonnes's Empires of Light is the captivating - no, let's say electrifying - saga of the War of the Electric Currents fought at the close of the nineteenth century with typical Gilded Age excess by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse. From the electrification of J. P. Morgan's New York mansion to Westinghouse's subjugation of Niagara Falls, Jonnes explains in human terms how alternating current achieved dominance over direct current, a victory of incalculable importance in the history of the world - and she tells the story with great, at times even macabre, verve, as in her account of the invention of the electric chair and its horrifying first use. Along the way, she solves numerous little mysteries of electric power, among them why Broadway became nicknamed 'The Great White Way.'"
-Eric Larson, author of the bestselling The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America."Empires of Light is a fascinating and vivid portrait of a tumultuous era. In a fast-paced narrative, Jill Jonnes re-creates the personalities, technologies, and corporate intrigues that changed America by - literally - electrifying the nation."
-Lauren Belfer, author of City of Light"Jonnes serves up plenty of color in an engaging and relaxed style."
-Publishers Weekly"Thoughtful and well paced."
-Kirkus Reviews
Empires of Light "A thoroughly engaging
and highly informative account of three inventors who pioneered the
production and distribution of electricity. Without these three engineers,
the world would simply not be what we know today." |