A Guide to Erik Larson Books

In the tense months following Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 election, the nation is teetering on the brink of civil war. Southern states are seceding, and Lincoln is powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but the passions of North and South came to focus on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Amid miscommunications, egos, and betrayals, Lincoln struggled to prevent war. At the heart of the narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Edmund Ruffin, and Mary Boykin Chesnut who all provide a deeper understanding of the chaos. Lincoln, overwhelmed, battles his duplicitous Secretary of State, trying to avert a war that he feels is inevitable. One that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans. Larson’s gripping account uses diaries and records to reveal the political missteps that led America toward disaster.

On Winston Churchill’s first day as Prime Minister, Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. For the next year, Churchill led Britain through relentless bombing and political turmoil, trying to keep the nation united and convince President Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally. Erik Larson vividly recounts Churchill’s leadership and personal struggles, drawing on diaries and secret documents. The story unfolds against the backdrop of his homes and wartime decisions, revealing the courage that held Britain together during its darkest hour.

In 1905, a group of researchers sailed to the Isle of Dorn to investigate mysterious disappearances, including a family of four who vanished after a week-long holiday on the island. Led by Professor James, they search the island’s cottage, but strange events and deadly storms leave them questioning reality and unsure if they can trust their own eyes, instincts, one another – or even themselves. As the investigators are stranded, their fears and suspicions mount, blurring the line between the ghostly and the real. Erik Larson’s eerie tale of suspense, based on actual events, will keep listeners on edge until its chilling conclusion.

On May 1, 1915, the Lusitania set sail from New York, carrying passengers, including many children, across the North Atlantic, despite the German declaration of the seas around Britain to be a war zone. Captain William Turner relied on established wartime rules, but German U-boat captain Walther Schwieger had other plans. As the U-20 approached, a mix of chance events, secrecy, and misjudgments led to one of history’s greatest disasters. Erik Larson’s Dead Wake vividly tells this tragic story, offering suspense, personal stories, and a broader view of America during the Progressive Era, revealing details long obscured by history.

In 1933, William E. Dodd became America’s first ambassador to Nazi Germany, bringing his family to Berlin. His daughter, Martha, is initially captivated by the glamour and young men of the Third Reich, even having an affair with Gestapo chief Rudolf Diels. But as Jewish persecution escalates, Dodd grows alarmed, sending urgent warnings to an indifferent State Department. In the Garden of Beasts offers a gripping, firsthand account of the Dodds’ year in Berlin, capturing the chilling rise of Nazi power, the complexity of the era, and the world’s failure to recognize Hitler’s true threat until it was too late.

Thunderstruck intertwines the stories of Hawley Crippen, an unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of wireless communication. Set in Edwardian London and the North Atlantic, the book explores Marconi’s race to perfect the wireless while Crippen commits a near-perfect crime. Larson’s gripping narrative follows the suspenseful criminal chase, revealing a tragic love affair, a sympathetic inspector, and the groundbreaking invention that changed communication forever. It’s a true story of love, murder, and a transformative era in history.

On September 8, 1900, Galveston, Texas, was struck by a catastrophic hurricane that killed over six thousand people. Isaac Cline, the town’s meteorologist, misjudged the storm’s severity despite unusual signs, leading to devastating consequences. Using Cline’s personal records, survivor testimonies, and modern hurricane science, Erik Larson chronicles Cline’s heroic efforts and tragic miscalculation in the face of an unimaginable disaster.

On December 16, 1988, 16-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and ammunition, killing one teacher and injuring another. In Lethal Passage, Erik Larson examines how a teenager obtained a weapon marketed as “the gun that made the eighties roar.” This compelling account highlights the dangers of gun access and has become a crucial text in the gun-control debate.

After receiving a sudden surge of junk mail directed at new parents — even though his wife at the time was merely pregnant — Erik Larson set out to explore the lengths companies go to spy on individual consumers. Posing as a CEO of a fictitious direct-mail corporation, Larson infiltrated companies that gather and sell personal information to assist businesses in their marketing campaigns. He discovered the systems used to gather personal data, the staggering amount of personal information companies can gather, and the government’s role in helping companies learn about you.