European University Institute Library

The day Wall Street exploded, a story of America in its first age of terror, Beverly Gage

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-385) and index

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

The day Wall Street exploded

bibliography

305148249

Beverly Gage

a story of America in its first age of terror

Just after noon on September 16, 1920, as hundreds of workers poured onto Wall Street for lunch, a horse-cart packed with dynamite exploded. Thirty-nine people died and hundreds more lay wounded in the worst terrorist attack to that point in U.S. history. Historian Beverly Gage recounts that now largely forgotten event: this historical detective saga traces the four-year hunt for the perpetrators, which spread as far as Italy and the new Soviet nation. It also presents the little-known history of homegrown terrorism, and delves into the lives of victims, suspects, and investigators: banking power J.P. Morgan, Jr.; labor radical "Big Bill" Haywood; anarchist firebrands Emma Goldman and Luigi Galleani; "America's Sherlock Holmes, " William J. Burns; even a young J. Edgar Hoover. It grapples with some of the controversies of its day, including the rise of the Bureau of Investigation, the federal campaign against immigrant "terrorists, " the grassroots effort to define and protect civil liberties, and the establishment of anti-communism at the heart of American politics.--From publisher description

The middle of things -- The end of the world -- The first terrorist act in America -- American roughneck -- The war at home -- The great detectives -- Business as usual -- Usual suspects -- A perfect alibi -- The anarchist fighters -- Illegal practices -- The martyr who wasn't -- The "great detective" returns -- Triple-cross -- The Wall Street curse -- The roar of the twenties