. . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow. — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“It was truly a transitional moment: There he was, at the cusp of the twentieth century, using the telephone to send a… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“The Chancellor’s assurances were so satisfying and so unexpected that I think they are on the whole too good to be true,”… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
I was in Bucks County at the 'Bucks County Currier Times,' which is a great place to start for any reporter who… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
At first glance, the story of the Lusitania doesn't seem like the sort of thing I would take on. I usually like… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
The toilet from time to time imparted to the boat the scent of a cholera hospital and could be flushed only when… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“In this time when writing long letters was everyday practice, men of normal sensibility saw these cards as the most crabbed of… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“Between the lights and the ever-present blue ghosts of the Columbian Guard, the fair achieved another milestone: For the first time Chicagoans… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
The Lusitania is important, of course, because this is where Germany began its maritime campaign using this brand-new weapon. We have to… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
My goal is to produce as rich and historical an experience for the reader as I possibly can, to the point where… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“As I look back on those days, most people in Chicago felt that way. Chicago was host to the world at that… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“I find it all infinitely sad, but at the same time so entrancing, that I often feel as if it would be… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
To me, nuclear weapons are the secret crisis of our time. Frankly, everyone needs to reread John Hersey's 'Hiroshima.' — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“But one thing was quite clear...." [Sol Bloom, chief of the Midway] wrote. "[B]eing broke didn't disturb me in the least. I… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“The frontier may indeed have closed at last, as Frederick Jackson Turner proclaimed in his history-making speech at the fair, but for… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
In Washington, we had a grieving President Wilson, very, very much a lonely, grieving man. He had lost his wife of many… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
Beneath the gore and smoke and loam, this book is about the evanescence of life, and why some men choose to fill… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
One of the really amazing things about the Lusitania saga was that, at the time, there existed in the admiralty a super-secret… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“To produce the kind of landscape effects Olmsted strived to create required not months but years, even decades. "I have all my… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
Isaac Cline was a creature of his times. He embodied the hubris of his times and, in many ways, was a victim… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“I have all my life been considering distant effects and always sacrificing immediate success and applause to that of the future,” he… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“This is the story of Isaac and his time in America, the last turning of the centuries, when the hubris of men… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
With my research, I really need absolute confirmation of what actually happened, direct physical connections to the past. — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
Every time I sit down to reread 'War and Peace' - I've read it three times - I feel as though I've… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
The most painstaking phase comes when the manuscript is set in 'type' for the first time and the first proofs of the… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
I've heard from the movie marketplace that James Cameron did such a killer job with 'Titanic' that it's almost impossible to do anything better. — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
As a rule, I am very skeptical of tying books to anniversaries. I don't think readers care. I also feel that it just about… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“look as if they had been plucked from the Palace of Versailles or a Jacobean mansion—that you were aboard a ship being propelled far… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
That's what I love about history - nuance. I don't believe in unalloyed heroes. Everyone's got warts, and everyone's got a surprise side. — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“Holmes was charming and gracious, but something about him made Belknap uneasy. He could not have defined it. Indeed, for the next several decades… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
. . . why some men choose to fill their brief allotment of time engaging the impossible, others in the manufacture of sorrow. — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“At present," he said, "I am responsible for conveying my associates to a place called Chicago. I understand it is somewhere in the hinterland.” — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
I knew from an online search that the Wisconsin State Historical Society, on the vast University of Wisconsin campus, held the papers of Sigrid… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
Dodd continued to hope that the murders would so outrage the German public that the regime would fall, but as the days passed he… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
I envy other writers who claim to have a backlog of books they'd like to write. — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
Trying to find ideas is the hardest part of my job. You'd think it would be the most fun. Just sitting around reading whatever… — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
“Her blind endorsement of Hitler’s regime first faded to a kind of sympathetic skepticism, but as summer approached,” — Erik Larson Copy Share Image
