Audiobook10 hours
The Detonators: The Secret Plot to Destroy America and an Epic Hunt for Justice
Written by Chad Millman
Narrated by Lloyd James
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5
()
About this audiobook
In 1916, while the Allied and Central forces waged war in Europe, a group of German saboteurs blew up Black Tom Island, a spit of land in New York Harbor within earshot of downtown Manhattan. The subsequent hail of missiles and gunpowder devastated much of lower Manhattan. The attack-so massive that as far away as Maryland people could feel the ground shake-had been shockingly easy. America was littered with networks of German agents, hiding in full daylight, an enemy within plotting further, deadlier attacks. All the way up to the president, officials had known something like this could happen, and yet nothing had been done.
Twenty years later, the German government had still managed to evade responsibility for the crime-and probably would have continued to, were it not for the determination of three lawyers named McCloy, Peaslee, and Martin. These men-most crucially the young John McCloy-made it their mission to solve a mystery that began during the first World War and barely ended before the second. The Detonators is a fascinating portrait of these men and their time, an era in which the rising American establishment engaged the world. It is also the dramatic love story of John and Ellen McCloy, and the first full accounting of a crime and a cover-up that resonates strongly in a post-9/11 America.
Twenty years later, the German government had still managed to evade responsibility for the crime-and probably would have continued to, were it not for the determination of three lawyers named McCloy, Peaslee, and Martin. These men-most crucially the young John McCloy-made it their mission to solve a mystery that began during the first World War and barely ended before the second. The Detonators is a fascinating portrait of these men and their time, an era in which the rising American establishment engaged the world. It is also the dramatic love story of John and Ellen McCloy, and the first full accounting of a crime and a cover-up that resonates strongly in a post-9/11 America.
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Reviews for The Detonators
Rating: 3.1999999800000003 out of 5 stars
3/5
5 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This work of history unravels an overlooked incident in American history: the Black Tom explosion. This munitions depot on a spit of land on the New Jersey side of New York Harbor was detonated by German saboteurs on July 30, 1916, before the United States had entered the World War. Debris from the explosion damaged the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge and shattered windows in Manhattan, so it is surprising that it is not a more well-known event. Millman traces the actions of the network of German spies who caused the explosion. But the better part of the book is dedicated to the legal efforts to hold Germany responsible for the explosion and the series of legal proceedings that occurred over decades until Germany was forced to pay legal damages in 1939, just before another war was about to begin. The book is plodding at times, and the explosion occurring so early in the book makes the rest feel anticlimactic, but it is a fascinating incident in American history that deserves greater awareness
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5rather plodding and clichéd writing, but it's about the legal case my grandfather tried (and solved) which is a good story.