Why a Booktrail?
1888: Imagine how it would feel to have been alive at the time of one of history’s most exciting inventions and science breakthroughs?
The Last Days of Night
What you need to know before your trail
The invention of the light bulb and the dawning of what it meant for an entire city to be powered by electric light was one of the major scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century.
Three men are the players in this epic battle to rule the night sky – Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla. One an inventor, the second a businessman, and the third the genius. They are locked in a battle to determine who would be ‘the man who controls electricty as he who does will control the very sun in the sky”
As the battle gets ever more fierce and the very future of electtcity and invention is at stake, a young, recently graduated attorney named Paul Cravath, became heavily involved in the legal fight and a centrail figure in the brutal fight to come out timumphant.
All men are true figures from history. Edison may have been the man to have invented the light bulb but the fight to get them to the masses is the story of what happens when one invention takes on a life of its own and how the last days of night – the birth of electricity of the masses – would change the world in more ways than one.
Travel Guide
An electric guide to New York
The advent of electric light at the end of the 19th century was quite literally one of those moments which changed the world – this was a huge achievement to have artificial light in New York and to an extent where the masses could enjoy it and use it safely. People would go to work in factories etc only when sunlight hours made it possible and even if business had not finished by the time the sunset, they were forced to work either by candle light or not at all. Light was to give everyone freedom and a new way of living. The Last Days of Night therefore were something to champion. This was progress
The entire city of New York was abuzz with whose side you were on and which man would come out the winner. Who did own the lightbulb and which type of electricity would be safest? The every day reality of this is heartbreakingly clear when the novel opens with a workman, being burned alive by grabbing live wires with direct current running through them. As well as tragic accidents however there were many tests done in and around the city to determine the best type of electricity to use – A/C or D/C. (alternate or direct) Tests were done on live animals to determine the latter and the sight and sound of an animal being electrocuted in the name of science is hard to read.
There was a buzz in the city of New York at the time for the battle of the lightbulb dominated each and every day. The city was alive with excitement, pressure and extreme stress as to what would follow. The city would become cleaner, safer, more efficient – its effects would trickle down to each and every layer of society.
It is also a city held hostage by a battle between great minds, of patents and inventions and how big business came to be. The legal system is also shown in every struggle, counter battle and the extent to which a man will fight to win no matter what.
Light tour:
The Clock Tower Office Building – originally the home office of the New York Life Insurance Company and still an office today.
Thomas Edison Home and Museum – Fascinating and billed as “Where Modern America was invented”
The Tesla Centre – With the backing of investors like J.P. Morgan, Tesla built a transmitter tower designed to prove he could send lectricity across great distances without any wires.W
Streetview Maps
A) NYC - Thomas Edison office
E) NJ - West Orange - Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
WOW. Just WOW. I love novels which transport you back to an iconic time in history and this was one of the most exciting in a long while. The book shone from the first page, and it utterly and brilliantly brings the dawn of electricity alive. New York emergence from a world of darkness in more ways than one, in a tightly plotted and enthralling novel is quite literarally electrifying’
Despite the gut wrenching opening chapter of someone getting electrocuted by this new invention, I knew I was going to be transported back in time with a highly evocative and realistic portrayal of what it meant to be the man to light up America.
The real genius here is not just the writing which is snappy and descriptive in equal measure. This is meticulous research involving real historical figures and scientific powerhouses coming alive off the page. The sights and smells of the sulphur, the candles and gas lamps, the buzz throughout and oh my god, the tension of the great Edison – Westinghouse battle. Made me think of Steve Jobs and Microsoft today – something we take for granted now started off as an idea in someone’s head, was turned into a fight over patents and then became something we all use and can’t imagine a life without. Who would have thought that the world of patents, electricity and lawsuits could be this interesting? Not one part was bogged down in history or fact. I know nothing of science etc – I know how to wire a plug and that’s about it but I was enthralled throughout.
I was thrilled to think that I’ve now actually ‘met’ Edison and the other iconic figures in the book. I’ve heard the book is to become a film with Eddie Redmayne. I’m at the front of the queue! What a story.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Last Days of Night
Author/ Guide: Graham Moore Destination: New York Departure Time: 1888 – 1890
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
