Dear Great Book Guru, As we approach summer’s midpoint, my
thoughts turn to - yes- enlightenment! I have read many good novels over the
last few months and now I want to learn something new with perhaps a scientific
bent. I do so love historical fiction.
In Search of Enlightenment
Dear In Search of….. I just finished a wonderful historical
novel set in the 1880’s about the fierce struggle to electrify America: THE
LAST DAYS OF NIGHT by Graham Moore. The major
players are George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison. Told from the perspective of Paul Cravath, a
young lawyer who goes on to invent the prototype of the modern law firm, this factually accurate novel is both a suspenseful
mystery and a psychological study of genius. Edison is portrayed as an egotistically
driven showman whose light bulb is inferior to the naïve, well-intentioned Westinghouse’s.
It is Edison’s threat of a billion dollar law suit that brings Cravath on the
scene. With the help of the eccentric Serbian
inventor Nikola Tesla and renowned opera singer Agnes Huntington, he struggles
to win what is called “the current wars.” Will alternating current A/C or
direct current D/C prevail? All this is
set against the backdrop of late nineteenth century New York as magical
thinking gives way to scientific progress.
A fascinating, always entertaining work further enhanced by an eight
page author’s note outlining where fact and fiction diverge- highly
recommended!