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Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets off a Struggle for the Soul of America
Hailed as "toweringly important" (Baltimore Sun), "a work of scrupulous and significant reportage" (E. L. Doctorow), and "an unforgettable historical drama" (Chicago Sun-Times), "Big Trouble" brings to life the astonishing case that ultimately engaged President Theodore Roosevelt, Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the politics and passions of an entire nation at century's turn.
After Idaho's former governor is blown up by a bomb at his garden gate at Christmastime 1905, America's most celebrated detective, Pinkerton James McParland, takes over the investigation. His daringly executed plan to kidnap the radical union leader "Big Bill" Haywood from Colorado to stand trial in Idaho sets the stage for a memorable courtroom confrontation between the flamboyant prosecutor, progressive senator William Borah, and the young defender of the dispossessed, Clarence Darrow.
"Big Trouble" captures the tumultuous first decade of the twentieth century, when capital and labor, particularly in the raw, acquisitive West, were pitted against each other in something close to class war.
Lukas paints a vivid portrait of a time and place in which actress Ethel Barrymore, baseball phenom Walter Johnson, and editor William Allen White jostled with railroad magnate E. H. Harriman, socialist Eugene V. Debs, gunslinger Charlie Siringo, and Operative 21, the intrepid Pinkerton agent who infiltrated Darrow's defense team. This is a grand narrative of the United States as it charged, full of hope and trepidation, into the twentieth century.
880 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
111 people are currently reading
1407 people want to read
About the author
J. Anthony Lukas
16 books26 followersJay Anthony Lukas was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, probably best known for his 1985 book Common Ground : A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families a study of race relations and school busing in Boston, Massachusetts in the mid - 1970's.
Lukas began his professional journalism career at the Baltimore Sun, then moved to The New York Times. He stayed at the ''Times'' for nine years, working as a roving reporter, and serving at the Washington, New York, and United Nations bureaus, and overseas in Ceylon, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Africa, and Zaire. After working at the New York Times Magazine for a short time in the 1970s, Lukas quit reporting to pursue a career in book and magazine writing,
In 1997, while his final book, Big Trouble, was undergoing final revisions, Lukas committed suicide by hanging himself with a bathrobe sash.He had been diagnosed with depression approximately ten years earlier,
Bibliography information from Wikipedia.
Lukas began his professional journalism career at the Baltimore Sun, then moved to The New York Times. He stayed at the ''Times'' for nine years, working as a roving reporter, and serving at the Washington, New York, and United Nations bureaus, and overseas in Ceylon, India, Japan, Pakistan, South Africa, and Zaire. After working at the New York Times Magazine for a short time in the 1970s, Lukas quit reporting to pursue a career in book and magazine writing,
In 1997, while his final book, Big Trouble, was undergoing final revisions, Lukas committed suicide by hanging himself with a bathrobe sash.He had been diagnosed with depression approximately ten years earlier,
Bibliography information from Wikipedia.
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June 12, 2020
Big Trouble by J. Anthony Lukas
Speaking with reporters before he left town, Darrow said, “It looks very much like another case of the oppression of the weak by the strong.” In short, it was a case made to order for Clarence Darrow, attorney for the downtrodden and dispossessed
Big Trouble is a vastly entertaining and epic tome covering a seemingly insignificant event in America’s history: the 1905 assassination of Frank Steunenberg the ex-governor of Idaho who had a prior history of brutally suppressing miner strikes in northern Idaho. The strikers, anarchists, and labor union agitators themselves were no snowflakes. When Steunenberg is tragically blown up by several sticks of TNT after entering his gated yard in Caldwell outside Boise, the line has been crossed and outrage ensues. It had been several years since Steunenberg had occupied any government position and so the murder seemed to most people, regardless of their political beliefs, to be horrifically senseless.
The case and subsequent trial against Bill Haywood, treasurer of the Wobblies labor organization, and one of the associates unfolds in detail. The action largely centers around Boise. The Pinkerton agency, hired by Idaho’s fledgling and largely corrupt government, tracks down the murderer, kidnaps what they believe are his labor union conspirators and brings them by secret train from Colorado to Idaho. The Pinkertons, with the backing of government officials at the local, state and federal levels stop at nothing, including the law, to try to prosecute the defendants.
Emerging superstar attorney Clarence Darrow is hired by the defense. Even President Teddy Roosevelt is eager to weigh in and declare the defendants guilty. But TR is dismayed when he learns the prosecutor of the case is under indictment by his own US attorney’s office and realizes that he stepped into a hornet’s nest which could affect his presidency. Everyone else in America also seemed to have had an opinion about the upcoming trial but a dutiful sheriff and fair-minded judge are seemingly wary of agitators, the Pinkerton tactics and the government power structure.
The author J. Anthony Lukas had already won two Pulitzers. one for journalism and one for his book on 1970’s segregation in Boston called Common Ground. Big Trouble was his last published work and, in my opinion, is much better than Common Ground and should have garnered awards.
5 stars easy. A wonderfully fair-minded history book. Despite its length I was sad to see it end. There are many cameos by muckrakers and notable personae who passed through Boise during the months of the trial. Although not essential to the story these asides added context to the historical setting. And the writing was good enough that the tangents worked for me.
An unquestionably superb drama and snapshot of this slice of America. The level of detail, research and quality of writing is probably an unparalleled view into the Idaho of 1900.
My last read of the decade!
Speaking with reporters before he left town, Darrow said, “It looks very much like another case of the oppression of the weak by the strong.” In short, it was a case made to order for Clarence Darrow, attorney for the downtrodden and dispossessed
Big Trouble is a vastly entertaining and epic tome covering a seemingly insignificant event in America’s history: the 1905 assassination of Frank Steunenberg the ex-governor of Idaho who had a prior history of brutally suppressing miner strikes in northern Idaho. The strikers, anarchists, and labor union agitators themselves were no snowflakes. When Steunenberg is tragically blown up by several sticks of TNT after entering his gated yard in Caldwell outside Boise, the line has been crossed and outrage ensues. It had been several years since Steunenberg had occupied any government position and so the murder seemed to most people, regardless of their political beliefs, to be horrifically senseless.
The case and subsequent trial against Bill Haywood, treasurer of the Wobblies labor organization, and one of the associates unfolds in detail. The action largely centers around Boise. The Pinkerton agency, hired by Idaho’s fledgling and largely corrupt government, tracks down the murderer, kidnaps what they believe are his labor union conspirators and brings them by secret train from Colorado to Idaho. The Pinkertons, with the backing of government officials at the local, state and federal levels stop at nothing, including the law, to try to prosecute the defendants.
Emerging superstar attorney Clarence Darrow is hired by the defense. Even President Teddy Roosevelt is eager to weigh in and declare the defendants guilty. But TR is dismayed when he learns the prosecutor of the case is under indictment by his own US attorney’s office and realizes that he stepped into a hornet’s nest which could affect his presidency. Everyone else in America also seemed to have had an opinion about the upcoming trial but a dutiful sheriff and fair-minded judge are seemingly wary of agitators, the Pinkerton tactics and the government power structure.
The author J. Anthony Lukas had already won two Pulitzers. one for journalism and one for his book on 1970’s segregation in Boston called Common Ground. Big Trouble was his last published work and, in my opinion, is much better than Common Ground and should have garnered awards.
5 stars easy. A wonderfully fair-minded history book. Despite its length I was sad to see it end. There are many cameos by muckrakers and notable personae who passed through Boise during the months of the trial. Although not essential to the story these asides added context to the historical setting. And the writing was good enough that the tangents worked for me.
An unquestionably superb drama and snapshot of this slice of America. The level of detail, research and quality of writing is probably an unparalleled view into the Idaho of 1900.
My last read of the decade!
November 9, 2009
After he finished writing Big Trouble, J. Anthony Lukas grew despondent and committed suicide. Although Lukas may have felt that he failed in his ambition for this book. I, for one, am grateful for the work that he left behind. This is a long, sprawling book about a part of American history that most people know very little about—the near civil war that raged in the Western United States in the 1890’s and early 1900’s that pitted miners against mine owners and their allies in government.
At that time, our country was far from a perfect union, and the collision of these forces as mining companies embarked on large-scale exploitation of the West’s natural resources, mobilizing masses of laborers, led to violence and insurrection. Pivotal events in the book include the assassination of Idaho governor Frank Steuenberg by a mysterious gunman and the ensuing trial of a union official who was his alleged assailant, the rebellion of Coeur D’Alene silver miners, and an explosion in Colorado.
The book, which was extensively researched by Lukas, is this and much more. We get the inside story of how detective agencies operated on behalf of the miners and government officials. We learn about how jury manipulation was practiced in 1905 in Idaho. An entire chapter is devoted to professional baseball in the Western states, while another chapter illuminates for us the traveling entertainment circuit that served the growing and newly respectable cities of this region, focusing on a particular appearance by the young Ethel Barrymore.
This is history from the ground up as well as the bird’s eye view. It’s a wonderful immersion experience that also reminds us that class warfare (with the emphasis on warfare) is part of the American Story.
At that time, our country was far from a perfect union, and the collision of these forces as mining companies embarked on large-scale exploitation of the West’s natural resources, mobilizing masses of laborers, led to violence and insurrection. Pivotal events in the book include the assassination of Idaho governor Frank Steuenberg by a mysterious gunman and the ensuing trial of a union official who was his alleged assailant, the rebellion of Coeur D’Alene silver miners, and an explosion in Colorado.
The book, which was extensively researched by Lukas, is this and much more. We get the inside story of how detective agencies operated on behalf of the miners and government officials. We learn about how jury manipulation was practiced in 1905 in Idaho. An entire chapter is devoted to professional baseball in the Western states, while another chapter illuminates for us the traveling entertainment circuit that served the growing and newly respectable cities of this region, focusing on a particular appearance by the young Ethel Barrymore.
This is history from the ground up as well as the bird’s eye view. It’s a wonderful immersion experience that also reminds us that class warfare (with the emphasis on warfare) is part of the American Story.
August 12, 2016
A little background as it relates to this book. Frank Steunenberg (August 8, 1861 – December 30, 1905) was the fourth Governor of the State of Idaho, serving from 1897 until 1901. He is perhaps best known for his 1905 assassination by one-time union member ,and paid assassin, Harry Orchard, who was also an informant for the Cripple Creek Mine Owners' Association. Orchard attempted to implicate leaders of the radical Western Federation of Miners in the assassination. The labor leaders were found not guilty in two trials (Clarence Darrow defended them), but Orchard spent the rest of his life in prison.
Steunenberg was assassinated in retaliation for his actions that he took in 1899. That year miners in Northern Idaho struck, demanding higher wages. Steunenberg declared martial law and requested Federal troops to enforce it - the National Guard was in the Philippines in 1899 . He got Federal troops (black troops from the 24th Infantry Regiment) and the labor union's strike was broken. Steunenberg earned the undying enmity of the union; for not only were miners rounded up without due process, but the troops were black. Black soldiers arresting white men in a time when racism was legal and institutionalized. An unforgivable act to many in the United States in 1899. The governor became the mortal enemy of labor after that and ,eventually, the union got even.
I'm a police officer with the City of Caldwell, Idaho and I have lived and worked in Caldwell for sixteen years. When we first moved to the city we lived one block north from where the old Steuenberg residence once sat (1602 Dearborn Street ). The very spot where he was killed by the bomb. So the book has more than just an academic interest for me. Amazingly there are many who have lived here their whole lives and they know nothing about Steuenberg's life or death. But I'm getting off track.
It is a huge book ,crammed with information, and took me almost three months to get through it. Not surprisingly the chapters dealing with the actual investigation, the individuals directly involved and the state of criminal justice in the United States in 1905, were the ones that were of particular interest to me. I read through those chapters almost with pausing ,which is significant, since most of the chapters average forty to fifty pages. This is not a beach book.
I found the book to be fascinating with microscopic historical details that are necessary. The book gives you an in-depth look at a specific time in the country's history. The extensive backgrounds that Lukas provides for the many characters are also essential. For not only do they help the reader to understand the involved people, but the details also help to explain why the nation was like it was in 1906. Different but similar to the United States in 2015.
Lukas did an excellent job showing this time and the many tensions that existed. And ,whether he meant to or not, Lukas also shows that we aren't so far removed from our ancestors. They too were convinced that their time was the worst and that the world was going to hell in a hand-basket. They knew it and nothing anyone said would change their minds. Somehow I find that refreshing.
If nothing else this book should dispel the myth that living in the early 1900's were simpler than contemporary times. Nonsense. The early 1900's were were just as stressful for those living then as 2015 can be for us. The book Humanizes what seems to be a rather distant era. It adds color to those great old black and white photos.
Steunenberg was assassinated in retaliation for his actions that he took in 1899. That year miners in Northern Idaho struck, demanding higher wages. Steunenberg declared martial law and requested Federal troops to enforce it - the National Guard was in the Philippines in 1899 . He got Federal troops (black troops from the 24th Infantry Regiment) and the labor union's strike was broken. Steunenberg earned the undying enmity of the union; for not only were miners rounded up without due process, but the troops were black. Black soldiers arresting white men in a time when racism was legal and institutionalized. An unforgivable act to many in the United States in 1899. The governor became the mortal enemy of labor after that and ,eventually, the union got even.
I'm a police officer with the City of Caldwell, Idaho and I have lived and worked in Caldwell for sixteen years. When we first moved to the city we lived one block north from where the old Steuenberg residence once sat (1602 Dearborn Street ). The very spot where he was killed by the bomb. So the book has more than just an academic interest for me. Amazingly there are many who have lived here their whole lives and they know nothing about Steuenberg's life or death. But I'm getting off track.
It is a huge book ,crammed with information, and took me almost three months to get through it. Not surprisingly the chapters dealing with the actual investigation, the individuals directly involved and the state of criminal justice in the United States in 1905, were the ones that were of particular interest to me. I read through those chapters almost with pausing ,which is significant, since most of the chapters average forty to fifty pages. This is not a beach book.
I found the book to be fascinating with microscopic historical details that are necessary. The book gives you an in-depth look at a specific time in the country's history. The extensive backgrounds that Lukas provides for the many characters are also essential. For not only do they help the reader to understand the involved people, but the details also help to explain why the nation was like it was in 1906. Different but similar to the United States in 2015.
Lukas did an excellent job showing this time and the many tensions that existed. And ,whether he meant to or not, Lukas also shows that we aren't so far removed from our ancestors. They too were convinced that their time was the worst and that the world was going to hell in a hand-basket. They knew it and nothing anyone said would change their minds. Somehow I find that refreshing.
If nothing else this book should dispel the myth that living in the early 1900's were simpler than contemporary times. Nonsense. The early 1900's were were just as stressful for those living then as 2015 can be for us. The book Humanizes what seems to be a rather distant era. It adds color to those great old black and white photos.
January 5, 2014
***SPOILER ALERT***
Packed with digressions, its more of a historical encyclopedia of its era than a tight narrative, this is a very well researched tome.
The author's anti-union bias is hinted at throughout the book, but in the afterward he reveals himself, declaring the guilt of the accused (all of whom were acquitted BTW) based on correspondence between two socialist journalists a decade after the fact. One of those journalists was utterly discredited by other evidence presented within the book, so its a pretty weak hook to hang someone's historical reputation on.
Lots of bad actors back in the day. Reminds me at what bitter cost what little measure of workplace safety and dignity we have today was purchased.
Packed with digressions, its more of a historical encyclopedia of its era than a tight narrative, this is a very well researched tome.
The author's anti-union bias is hinted at throughout the book, but in the afterward he reveals himself, declaring the guilt of the accused (all of whom were acquitted BTW) based on correspondence between two socialist journalists a decade after the fact. One of those journalists was utterly discredited by other evidence presented within the book, so its a pretty weak hook to hang someone's historical reputation on.
Lots of bad actors back in the day. Reminds me at what bitter cost what little measure of workplace safety and dignity we have today was purchased.
May 2, 2013
For contemporary (broadly defined) history I will usually prefer a professional journalist to an academic historian. They often write better, presumably because, unlike academics, they have to be able to sell copy to publishers and readers.
Lukas' Big Trouble is a good example of an excellent piece of history composed by a journalist. Not only does he tell the story of a particular trial which highlighted class-struggle in early 20th century America, but he also fleshes it out with apt descriptions of small town life in the west, of baseball's authentic popular roots, of US labor history and of the lives of such principals as Clarence Darrow and Big Bill Haywood, President of the Western Federation of Miners and one of the founders of the I.W.W. So doing, he makes the time and the place of his account real to the reader, as real as a good novel.
Lukas' Big Trouble is a good example of an excellent piece of history composed by a journalist. Not only does he tell the story of a particular trial which highlighted class-struggle in early 20th century America, but he also fleshes it out with apt descriptions of small town life in the west, of baseball's authentic popular roots, of US labor history and of the lives of such principals as Clarence Darrow and Big Bill Haywood, President of the Western Federation of Miners and one of the founders of the I.W.W. So doing, he makes the time and the place of his account real to the reader, as real as a good novel.
September 2, 2020
You know the feeling you have when you talk to someone who is long-winded? Someone who starts talking about a certain topic, but quickly gets derailed, launching off into something that may only be tangentially related to the original point of discussion, only to come back to it, then quickly go away from it again in a completely different direction? And the end result is that the conversation you thought you were going to have was not quite what you had expected, and tried your patience in the process? That is what this book was to me.
This is, ostensibly, about the assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. And it is, somewhat. But J. Anthony Lukas bounces around so much that there are many times in the book the reader is carried far away, both mentally and geographically, from Caldwell, Idaho. We spend time in Denver, in New York, in Chicago, in Spokane, WA, in Kansas, in Canada, in Washington, D.C., in Cuba, in Pennsylvania, and all over Idaho. I am sure I am leaving a few places out. Some of the detours make sense, although I think the time spent in some of the places was excessive. And some did not need to be in the book at all.
Two examples of the latter: 1) the actress Ethel Barrymore happened to be traveling through Boise, doing a play, while the murder trial of William Haywood was ongoing. She attended the trial for the one day that she was in town. That is the extent of her connection (using that word loosely) to what the book is supposed to be about. She had no personal interest, nor knew anyone involved, in the trial. Instead of devoting one paragraph to her appearance coinciding with the trial, Lukas talks about her for fifteen pages. 2) The Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Walter Johnson was just beginning his career, not even in the big leagues yet, playing for the small town of Weiser, ID. Yes, he was a sensation. Yes, on Sundays when the trial was not in session, many of its participants went to baseball games and a few of them involved Johnson. No, he had absolutely nothing to do with the trial. Yet about a dozen pages are devoted to him. Again, this could have been dispensed with in a single paragraph. And I say this as a baseball fan. I love baseball, but that is not what I was expecting to read about here.
Examples like those detract from the overall quality of the book, at least for me. My edition was 754 pages. I think it easily could have been reduced by 1/3 and the book probably would have been better. There was a long section on Socialist organizing and unions out East, only for Lukas to later call it a "sideshow". As I was reading, at one point I thought to myself "Can we get to the trial yet?" I was on page 429. It was almost one-hundred more pages before Lukas got to the beginning of the trial, and even then he kept careening off course elsewhere. This is not a bad book, but it tested my patience unlike any book I have read in the last several years.
Where Lukas is good is when he actually focuses on the murder, the trial, the jury selection, and the providing context to the times, the people, and Idaho. When he does this, the narrative is interesting, and the writing flows. And some of the jaunts that he makes are worthwhile, such as Theodore Roosevelt's involvement. It was larger than he or his administration let on. Also, Lukas provided a lot of background on the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and in particular James McParland, one of its high-ranking officials whose methods were highly dubious and ethically questionable.
I could go on, but I don't want to be long-winded as I think Lukas did that enough for me. Again, this is not a bad book - the historical context is well-done if not usually too well-done, characters are fleshed out, the parts that concern the trial are very good, and the state of Idaho itself feels like a character given how much Lukas focuses on it. If you have a few weeks that you would like to devote to reading about the Western Federation of Miners, Socialism, and early 1900s western America, this would be a good choice. Otherwise...
Grade: C-
This is, ostensibly, about the assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. And it is, somewhat. But J. Anthony Lukas bounces around so much that there are many times in the book the reader is carried far away, both mentally and geographically, from Caldwell, Idaho. We spend time in Denver, in New York, in Chicago, in Spokane, WA, in Kansas, in Canada, in Washington, D.C., in Cuba, in Pennsylvania, and all over Idaho. I am sure I am leaving a few places out. Some of the detours make sense, although I think the time spent in some of the places was excessive. And some did not need to be in the book at all.
Two examples of the latter: 1) the actress Ethel Barrymore happened to be traveling through Boise, doing a play, while the murder trial of William Haywood was ongoing. She attended the trial for the one day that she was in town. That is the extent of her connection (using that word loosely) to what the book is supposed to be about. She had no personal interest, nor knew anyone involved, in the trial. Instead of devoting one paragraph to her appearance coinciding with the trial, Lukas talks about her for fifteen pages. 2) The Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Walter Johnson was just beginning his career, not even in the big leagues yet, playing for the small town of Weiser, ID. Yes, he was a sensation. Yes, on Sundays when the trial was not in session, many of its participants went to baseball games and a few of them involved Johnson. No, he had absolutely nothing to do with the trial. Yet about a dozen pages are devoted to him. Again, this could have been dispensed with in a single paragraph. And I say this as a baseball fan. I love baseball, but that is not what I was expecting to read about here.
Examples like those detract from the overall quality of the book, at least for me. My edition was 754 pages. I think it easily could have been reduced by 1/3 and the book probably would have been better. There was a long section on Socialist organizing and unions out East, only for Lukas to later call it a "sideshow". As I was reading, at one point I thought to myself "Can we get to the trial yet?" I was on page 429. It was almost one-hundred more pages before Lukas got to the beginning of the trial, and even then he kept careening off course elsewhere. This is not a bad book, but it tested my patience unlike any book I have read in the last several years.
Where Lukas is good is when he actually focuses on the murder, the trial, the jury selection, and the providing context to the times, the people, and Idaho. When he does this, the narrative is interesting, and the writing flows. And some of the jaunts that he makes are worthwhile, such as Theodore Roosevelt's involvement. It was larger than he or his administration let on. Also, Lukas provided a lot of background on the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and in particular James McParland, one of its high-ranking officials whose methods were highly dubious and ethically questionable.
I could go on, but I don't want to be long-winded as I think Lukas did that enough for me. Again, this is not a bad book - the historical context is well-done if not usually too well-done, characters are fleshed out, the parts that concern the trial are very good, and the state of Idaho itself feels like a character given how much Lukas focuses on it. If you have a few weeks that you would like to devote to reading about the Western Federation of Miners, Socialism, and early 1900s western America, this would be a good choice. Otherwise...
Grade: C-
January 4, 2020
“Big Trouble” is a very well-written piece of historical literature, describing a seemingly insignificant event in a unique way.
The book focuses on the brutal murder of Idaho’s governor, Frank Steunenberg, who is killed, in winter, by a bomb attached to the gait of his house, and the subsequent trial.
What captured my attention in J. Anthony Lucas’ work is not the trial itself, but the way he depicted the American society on the threshold of the 20th century. The book’s characters vary from a famous actress to a railroad magnate.
“Big Trouble” is wonderfully easy to read. Despite it’s length and detailed descriptions of each event, it is more like a novel than a non-fiction work.
The book gives the reader a profound insight into the 1900s Idaho.
Maybe not five stars, but definitely four.
The book focuses on the brutal murder of Idaho’s governor, Frank Steunenberg, who is killed, in winter, by a bomb attached to the gait of his house, and the subsequent trial.
What captured my attention in J. Anthony Lucas’ work is not the trial itself, but the way he depicted the American society on the threshold of the 20th century. The book’s characters vary from a famous actress to a railroad magnate.
“Big Trouble” is wonderfully easy to read. Despite it’s length and detailed descriptions of each event, it is more like a novel than a non-fiction work.
The book gives the reader a profound insight into the 1900s Idaho.
Maybe not five stars, but definitely four.
July 25, 2019
Oh man this is a hard book to review. Buried deep within this quite lengthy tome is a great book about the assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg and the ensuing "Trial of the Century" of Big Bill Haywood. The problem is that within the book are a couple dozen good long articles on other subjects some of which are related to the main story and arguably useful and some of which are so tangentially related that they made for page skipping material. And therein lies the problem. Lukas' research, as best I can tell, was impeccable. And his writing is clear and strong and readable. Unfortunately he never met a digression he didn't feel it was necessary to delve into at length...great length. And I'm aware that some of the digressions clearly added to the story. Clarence Darrow represented Haywood and a significant look into his life was warranted. Governor Steunenberg's actions during the Coeur d'Alene strikes were clearly necessary background. What wasn't necessary background was a long history of African-American soldiers in the American West and a history of the Spanish-American War due to the stationing of the black 24th Infantry Regiment in North Idaho during the 1899 labor confrontation. And just because Ethel Barrymore attended a day of the Haywood trial doesn't mean we need long look at her life, loves, friendships, etc. Likewise I didn't need long articles on Gifford Pinchot and the history of forestry in the U.S., the history of the Social Gospel in the U.S., Jewish immigration into the U.S., the history of and the growth of the Elk's Lodge, etc., etc. I'll cut some slack on town baseball in Idaho and Walter Johnson because it's interesting...but it really was far from necessary.
And therein lies the problem. A book about a compelling subject, with good research and written by an author with a good voice, constantly bogs down in digressions and minutiae. This was particularly disappointing for me. I grew up in Idaho. And while I never lived in Caldwell, my Grandparents did. I also lived for a number of years in Boise and I know a lot of the places described by Lukas. Add to that that I'm a defense attorney and that Clarence Darrow is a bit of a hero of mine and this book should have been something I couldn't put down. And the really sad part is that it easily could have been if somebody had been able to convince Lukas to edit out at least a third of the book (I think it could have been up to half). As it stands I view it as a successful failure.
And therein lies the problem. A book about a compelling subject, with good research and written by an author with a good voice, constantly bogs down in digressions and minutiae. This was particularly disappointing for me. I grew up in Idaho. And while I never lived in Caldwell, my Grandparents did. I also lived for a number of years in Boise and I know a lot of the places described by Lukas. Add to that that I'm a defense attorney and that Clarence Darrow is a bit of a hero of mine and this book should have been something I couldn't put down. And the really sad part is that it easily could have been if somebody had been able to convince Lukas to edit out at least a third of the book (I think it could have been up to half). As it stands I view it as a successful failure.
May 31, 2022
I’m not a big fan of titles with colons in them. What comes after the colon is usually clickbait or a sound bite. When the printing press was just becoming popular, it was even worse. Titles used to cover the entire frontispiece. Instead of a colon, you’d have something like “Leviathan or The Matter, Formes, and Power of A Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil.” Come on, Tommy. You had me at “Leviathan”.
But sometimes a big book deserves a big title. “Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America,” by J. Anthony Lukas is a big, scholarly telling of a gripping story, in 875 pages (including extensive notes and index). The subtitle is a good description of the content, and “Struggle for the Soul of America” is not hyperbole. This is a parable in how small beginnings can have massive consequences, in this case of how one little murder can cause Big Trouble.
It begins in Caldwell, Idaho, where Frank Steunenberg, the former governor, is blown up walking through his front gate. I’m guessing you’ve never heard of Steunenberg, and odds are you can’t find Caldwell on a map. I have lived in Idaho for over 30 years, and I’d never heard of Steunenberg. Caldwell I know, but I never suspected that it was a fulcrum in the big social battles of the 20th century: the collapse of the Gilded Age, the labor movement, socialism, trust busting, large scale environmental destruction, assassination by explosion.
I read this book because I enjoyed “The Cold Millions” by Jess Walter (see my review). That was historical fiction set during the “Big Trouble” detailed in this book. I wanted to know the “real” story.
Early in the 20th century, tension between the super rich and the working masses had begun to explode (literally) into protests and violence. In this part of the country, at this time, the biggest businesses were mining, logging, and the railroads. Cattle ranching was another very big business, though it had started to shrink by the turn of the century (I highly recommend “Cattle Kingdom” by Christopher Knowlton for that story). These were big businesses, not old prospectors chipping at rocks or men in flannel axing trees. The destruction was so pervasive that we still suffer from it—witness the largest and worst superfund cleanup sites, Silver Valley in Idaho and the Berkeley Pit in Montana.
A handful of people amassed jaw dropping wealth while (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) the actual workers suffered in poor conditions and abject poverty. Consider how bad things must have been for Big Bill Heywood’s slogan to be so popular: “Eight hours of work, eight hours of play, eight hours of sleep—and eight dollars a day!” That was a was a crazy dream back then.
Successful politicians came in two flavors. Some like Governor Steunenberg cultivated wealthy friends. He made no bones about having moved to Caldwell “to get rich”. Some, like Teddy Roosevelt, fought excessive destruction of wilderness and “unfair” business practices. Both had to deal with the disruption and sometime violence that came with the Union movement. But Steunenberg needed those votes, and Roosevelt needed those private funds, so Steunenberg and Roosevelt were friends.
No one really knows who assassinated Steunenberg. But clearly, angry miners were involved. They had plenty of dynamite, for mining, and knew how to use it. Mine owners (and lumber barons) wanted to squash the union movement at its birth. They hired the famous Pinkerton detective agency to find, or create, evidence implicating union leaders, especially Big Bill and two of his associates.
As an aside, I didn’t realize how important private detective agencies were at the time. There’s a reason why so many Westerns have a Pinkerton. Back then, people didn’t trust the police, so they turned to The Detective. Pinkerton and his like were essentially above the law, and for hire to the highest bidder.
So a couple confessions were found. When one of the confessors recanted, every effort was made to persuade him to change his story—including using his wife. But the murders themselves weren’t on trial. The leaders were, on the doubtful theory that they “must have” ordered the hit, but in reality to crush the labor movement.
The attorney for the defense, Clarence Darrow, argued, among other things, that the defendants weren’t even IN Idaho when the murder happened, there was no direct evidence that they ordered the hit, and that they were not being held or tried in the proper jurisdiction. Along the way, he raised breath-catching amounts of money, a great deal of which he kept as legal fees and a great deal of which he used to pay Detectives and, probably, to bribe witnesses.
I can’t tell you how the worker-versus-wealthy story ends. We’re still living it. I won’t tell you how the trial ended, because that would spoil the read.
“Big Trouble” is a scholarly work, but it reads like a combination of thriller and true crime. At times, I thought Lukas included details because he could, rather than to advance the story or flesh out the narrative—such as the street address of the Western Federation of Miners (1613 Court Place, Denver, Colorado) or Steunenberg’s dog’s name (Jumbo), to pick two examples at random. But somehow they did not get in the way, nor did they bog the story down.
I felt an attachment to this story because of my personal connection to the places where it happened, my interest in this period of history, and my personal positions on labor and social stratification. But you don’t have to share any of that to enjoy this book.
But sometimes a big book deserves a big title. “Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America,” by J. Anthony Lukas is a big, scholarly telling of a gripping story, in 875 pages (including extensive notes and index). The subtitle is a good description of the content, and “Struggle for the Soul of America” is not hyperbole. This is a parable in how small beginnings can have massive consequences, in this case of how one little murder can cause Big Trouble.
It begins in Caldwell, Idaho, where Frank Steunenberg, the former governor, is blown up walking through his front gate. I’m guessing you’ve never heard of Steunenberg, and odds are you can’t find Caldwell on a map. I have lived in Idaho for over 30 years, and I’d never heard of Steunenberg. Caldwell I know, but I never suspected that it was a fulcrum in the big social battles of the 20th century: the collapse of the Gilded Age, the labor movement, socialism, trust busting, large scale environmental destruction, assassination by explosion.
I read this book because I enjoyed “The Cold Millions” by Jess Walter (see my review). That was historical fiction set during the “Big Trouble” detailed in this book. I wanted to know the “real” story.
Early in the 20th century, tension between the super rich and the working masses had begun to explode (literally) into protests and violence. In this part of the country, at this time, the biggest businesses were mining, logging, and the railroads. Cattle ranching was another very big business, though it had started to shrink by the turn of the century (I highly recommend “Cattle Kingdom” by Christopher Knowlton for that story). These were big businesses, not old prospectors chipping at rocks or men in flannel axing trees. The destruction was so pervasive that we still suffer from it—witness the largest and worst superfund cleanup sites, Silver Valley in Idaho and the Berkeley Pit in Montana.
A handful of people amassed jaw dropping wealth while (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) the actual workers suffered in poor conditions and abject poverty. Consider how bad things must have been for Big Bill Heywood’s slogan to be so popular: “Eight hours of work, eight hours of play, eight hours of sleep—and eight dollars a day!” That was a was a crazy dream back then.
Successful politicians came in two flavors. Some like Governor Steunenberg cultivated wealthy friends. He made no bones about having moved to Caldwell “to get rich”. Some, like Teddy Roosevelt, fought excessive destruction of wilderness and “unfair” business practices. Both had to deal with the disruption and sometime violence that came with the Union movement. But Steunenberg needed those votes, and Roosevelt needed those private funds, so Steunenberg and Roosevelt were friends.
No one really knows who assassinated Steunenberg. But clearly, angry miners were involved. They had plenty of dynamite, for mining, and knew how to use it. Mine owners (and lumber barons) wanted to squash the union movement at its birth. They hired the famous Pinkerton detective agency to find, or create, evidence implicating union leaders, especially Big Bill and two of his associates.
As an aside, I didn’t realize how important private detective agencies were at the time. There’s a reason why so many Westerns have a Pinkerton. Back then, people didn’t trust the police, so they turned to The Detective. Pinkerton and his like were essentially above the law, and for hire to the highest bidder.
So a couple confessions were found. When one of the confessors recanted, every effort was made to persuade him to change his story—including using his wife. But the murders themselves weren’t on trial. The leaders were, on the doubtful theory that they “must have” ordered the hit, but in reality to crush the labor movement.
The attorney for the defense, Clarence Darrow, argued, among other things, that the defendants weren’t even IN Idaho when the murder happened, there was no direct evidence that they ordered the hit, and that they were not being held or tried in the proper jurisdiction. Along the way, he raised breath-catching amounts of money, a great deal of which he kept as legal fees and a great deal of which he used to pay Detectives and, probably, to bribe witnesses.
I can’t tell you how the worker-versus-wealthy story ends. We’re still living it. I won’t tell you how the trial ended, because that would spoil the read.
“Big Trouble” is a scholarly work, but it reads like a combination of thriller and true crime. At times, I thought Lukas included details because he could, rather than to advance the story or flesh out the narrative—such as the street address of the Western Federation of Miners (1613 Court Place, Denver, Colorado) or Steunenberg’s dog’s name (Jumbo), to pick two examples at random. But somehow they did not get in the way, nor did they bog the story down.
I felt an attachment to this story because of my personal connection to the places where it happened, my interest in this period of history, and my personal positions on labor and social stratification. But you don’t have to share any of that to enjoy this book.
June 2, 2018
Lukas was a gifted writer and his talents are on full display in Big Trouble. For the writing alone I can't rate this book below four stars. But I can't rate it any higher because, for me, the material was too sprawling. Virtually every individual or notable place or event received a three or four page diversional history. When it worked I loved the richness of the story and when it didn't I couldn't wait for the author to get back to the main point. Sometimes I checked out mentally and either went back to re-read a passage or I accepted the inevitable confusion awaiting me.
Much of the material relates to the history of the lead characters of the book; the northwestern U.S. (mainly Idaho) and its leading inhabitants in the last and first decades of the 19th & 20th centuries, respectively; the mineworkers and mine owners of the northwest; labor unions; the press; the Socialist party; and sundry people and histories of the time.
I would recommend this book with reservations. Idahoans and fans of late 19th century history seem to be a wheelhouse audience. I read the paperback but Kindle would have been a better choice for the dictionary I should have regularly consulted but didn't have handy. It might be best appreciated as an audible book on a long ride through the (north)western U.S. (a really long ride, it's a big book).
I'm a much bigger fan of Lukas's grand epic Common Ground. The writing was outstanding, as it is in Big Trouble, and the story is more tightly bound. Lukas was living in the era of the book and interviewed its subjects over long periods so there was no speculation about the events depicted (as there was in Big Trouble) and his personal interjections seemed stronger. Perhaps Common Ground was more appealing to me because I'm familiar with the names and places described, even if I was too young to remember the events, but in any event, I would recommend Common Ground to a wider audience.
Much of the material relates to the history of the lead characters of the book; the northwestern U.S. (mainly Idaho) and its leading inhabitants in the last and first decades of the 19th & 20th centuries, respectively; the mineworkers and mine owners of the northwest; labor unions; the press; the Socialist party; and sundry people and histories of the time.
I would recommend this book with reservations. Idahoans and fans of late 19th century history seem to be a wheelhouse audience. I read the paperback but Kindle would have been a better choice for the dictionary I should have regularly consulted but didn't have handy. It might be best appreciated as an audible book on a long ride through the (north)western U.S. (a really long ride, it's a big book).
I'm a much bigger fan of Lukas's grand epic Common Ground. The writing was outstanding, as it is in Big Trouble, and the story is more tightly bound. Lukas was living in the era of the book and interviewed its subjects over long periods so there was no speculation about the events depicted (as there was in Big Trouble) and his personal interjections seemed stronger. Perhaps Common Ground was more appealing to me because I'm familiar with the names and places described, even if I was too young to remember the events, but in any event, I would recommend Common Ground to a wider audience.
March 8, 2008
Possibly the most engrossing history I have read. It does read like a novel, bu with the occasional brief detour to explain who the "Buffalo Soldiers" were, at they appear in the tale as the first black soldiers to guard white men, the mine strikers who are at the base of this story. The great labor leaders of the robber baron era are essentially kidnapped by agents of the state of Idaho to try for the murder of a past governor who put down the miners' strike. The cast includes legal and political luminaries, sports and entertainment celebrities, villanous private eyes- the Pinkertons, indians, mormons, soldiers........
Though seven hundred plus pages, it will not sit at the bedside for even a week.
Though seven hundred plus pages, it will not sit at the bedside for even a week.
August 21, 2014
Wow. The amount of work it takes to produce one of these tomes is unbelievable - reading countless old newspaper articles, court transcripts, letters, papers, books, etc. I loved every word of it. The story is about the dreadful assassination of the former governor of Idaho, by a bomb under his front gate, triggered by its opening, right after Christmas 1905. The perpetrator, apprehended. quickly, fingered three officials of a mining union who were then prosecuted in 1907. In telling the story, the author has written a comprehensive tale of American labor struggles but also of multiple other aspects of American life, such as the blatant corruption and cronyism pervading the political system, founding of the National Forests, the chokehold of theatrical producers, the evolution of news services, the newfound notion that journalism should report facts and not opinions, the development of muckraking and yellow journalism, the Socialist movement, and the fears that class warfare was a real possibility. The Russian revolution of 1917 had not yet happened, however there was an uprising in Russia in 1905 that rattled wealthy Americans (I'm now reading a book about the same time period in Russia, leading up the 1917 revolution, and am enjoying the juxtaposition). Each time a new notable is introduced, the author writes about that notable and developments in their industry. There were a surprising number of notables who became involved - the President was involved extensively, Clarence Darrow for the defense of the union officials charged with conspiracy, James McParland of the Pinkerton Detective Agency who arranged for these officials to be kidnapped in Colorado to be brought to Idaho for trial, Supreme Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ethel Barrymore (she was in a touring show in Boise), Gifford Pinchot (the national forester), Walter Johnson (renowned pitcher), Eugene Debs, Samuel Gompers. The bulk of the book is about the dreadful treatment of miners, and the power of the mine owners. In spite of frequent public assertions that the mine owners did not pay for the prosecution of the union officials by Idaho's governor and Senator, in fact the mine owners poured thousands of dollars for the Cadillac of prosecutions. The stellar defense team was funded by unions, but part of their thunder was stolen by Pinkerton operatives infiltrating the defense team. The fact that Pinkerton operatives had infiltrated so many labor organizations and that the perpetrator was apprehended so quickly led some to believe that in fact the Pinkertons had arranged the assassination in order to discredit unions. During the trial, the Senator who was also serving as the prosecutor was indicted for fraud in sales of federal timber land. Well worth the time to read.
October 15, 2012
This book has been making the rounds of the Monroe clan for a few years, and I finally snagged it from daughter Dawn over Father's Day weekend. Interesting story made more so from the fact my great-aunt Doris Steuenberg Knowles was the granddaughter of the victim - or the guy who was killed anyway. It's a big, heavy book (750 pgs before the notes, index etc), so it'll take me a while to read it. I'll take breaks and read sections of my other currently-reading book as I go.
8/19/12 - still plugging away at this book. I'm a bit more than half way through it, with time out while we were at the lake to read some of the books on my nook. Easier to carry that than this hefty volume. It is an interesting book with lots of background ibnformation on the various interest groups involved. What a time to have lived though! I prefer today with all its problems. (does that 'its' reaquire an apostrophe??? - gad, I never remember the rule :-(
9/25/12 - I finally made it to the actual trial! I think I have 2 more chapters and the epilogue to go, but I all ready know what happens to Harry Orchard since my cousin Brenda (great-granddaughter of Frank Steuenberg) told me and of the books she owns now that were her mom's about the her family and the aftermath of the murder and trial. Onward to the finish!
10/14/12 - Finished! It is a fascinating story, although I felt there were many chapters that could have been condensed form 50 pages to 10 and still gotten the information across. I debated between 3 and 4 stars - 3 1/2 would fit my feelings better. In reading about the politics of the times and the capitalists (many of the robber baron breed), I came away thinking that not much had changed in those arenas since 1905 and later. It all sounded so familiar, although we are a bit less violent than they were back then.
I'm happy I read this book, but I'll probably never read it again! 750+ pages is too much, unless it's a Harry Potter book ;-}
8/19/12 - still plugging away at this book. I'm a bit more than half way through it, with time out while we were at the lake to read some of the books on my nook. Easier to carry that than this hefty volume. It is an interesting book with lots of background ibnformation on the various interest groups involved. What a time to have lived though! I prefer today with all its problems. (does that 'its' reaquire an apostrophe??? - gad, I never remember the rule :-(
9/25/12 - I finally made it to the actual trial! I think I have 2 more chapters and the epilogue to go, but I all ready know what happens to Harry Orchard since my cousin Brenda (great-granddaughter of Frank Steuenberg) told me and of the books she owns now that were her mom's about the her family and the aftermath of the murder and trial. Onward to the finish!
10/14/12 - Finished! It is a fascinating story, although I felt there were many chapters that could have been condensed form 50 pages to 10 and still gotten the information across. I debated between 3 and 4 stars - 3 1/2 would fit my feelings better. In reading about the politics of the times and the capitalists (many of the robber baron breed), I came away thinking that not much had changed in those arenas since 1905 and later. It all sounded so familiar, although we are a bit less violent than they were back then.
I'm happy I read this book, but I'll probably never read it again! 750+ pages is too much, unless it's a Harry Potter book ;-}
February 27, 2020
Intricately detailed, deeply researched, compelling.
August 14, 2013
This intensely alluring tome from Anthony Lukas was one of the most interesting books I have ever read - bar none.
The killing of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg at his home and the whirlwind that surrounded his trial, the twentieth century's first "trial of the century", is a piece of American history few of us these days are familiar with. Anthony Lukas brought this tale to life with vignettes coloring the story of the era, providing an intriguing and appealing backdrop to assasination and its aftermath. Though the research was meticulous the book was laid to paper artfully and masterfully. One came to know intimately both the victim, former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg, and the murderer, Harry Orchard, as well as the others accused in plotting the murder from Colorado; union leaders Charles Moyer, Bill Haywood and George Pettibone.
Anthony Lukas provides not only the happenings of the case but also gives us the Zeitgeist of our nation in the early 1900's. James McParland of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Clarence Darrow, Samuel Gompers and many other movers and shakers play their important roles in the case. The width and breadth of the tale left me fascinated. No sides taken and no punches pulled, one was also left with the feeling that the unionists were every bit as bad a lot as the very capitalist slave drivers they fought against.
Big Trouble is the kind of book that makes you want to be an historian yourself. It was full of dramatic scenes taken off the pages of the story of the American West. This is a story that I would have been proud to have written myself and I am glad that I spent the time to read it. Though I am left with the feeling that this must have been his magnum opus, I have now vowed to read the author's other works.
The killing of former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg at his home and the whirlwind that surrounded his trial, the twentieth century's first "trial of the century", is a piece of American history few of us these days are familiar with. Anthony Lukas brought this tale to life with vignettes coloring the story of the era, providing an intriguing and appealing backdrop to assasination and its aftermath. Though the research was meticulous the book was laid to paper artfully and masterfully. One came to know intimately both the victim, former Idaho governor Frank Steunenberg, and the murderer, Harry Orchard, as well as the others accused in plotting the murder from Colorado; union leaders Charles Moyer, Bill Haywood and George Pettibone.
Anthony Lukas provides not only the happenings of the case but also gives us the Zeitgeist of our nation in the early 1900's. James McParland of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, Clarence Darrow, Samuel Gompers and many other movers and shakers play their important roles in the case. The width and breadth of the tale left me fascinated. No sides taken and no punches pulled, one was also left with the feeling that the unionists were every bit as bad a lot as the very capitalist slave drivers they fought against.
Big Trouble is the kind of book that makes you want to be an historian yourself. It was full of dramatic scenes taken off the pages of the story of the American West. This is a story that I would have been proud to have written myself and I am glad that I spent the time to read it. Though I am left with the feeling that this must have been his magnum opus, I have now vowed to read the author's other works.
August 28, 2016
The 1907 trial of Big Bill Haywood and two other leaders of the miners' union for conspiracy to assassinate a former governor of Idaho who helped mine owners suppress the unions is the central subject of Big Trouble, but this book goes WAY beyond that specific event to delve into the state of the nation at the time, particularly the taking of sides in the struggle of labor v. capital. And I do mean WAY beyond. President Teddy Roosevelt and actress Ethel Barrymore and countless others got involved at some point or another. And Lukas takes the occasion of the engagement of various characters to go into the state of their professions at the time. Acting for Barrymore; how trail lawyers functioned (Clarence Darrow for the defense, William Borah for the prosecution); the evolving state of journalism as the press converges on the trail (this was the era of the muckrakers); forestry when Gifford Pinchot comes to town; plus baseball, corporate corruption, immigration and the acceptance of various sorts of immigrants, and much, much more. Big Trouble is a brilliant and extraordinarily comprehensive book, but I could have done with more on the actual trial and the defendants and a little less of everything else. 754 pages with 200-plus pages of notes and index. Don't try reading it in bed.
October 31, 2019
This is a compelling account of the murder trial of Big Bill Haywood and his co-accused for allegedly killing a former Governor in small town Idaho in 1906. Featuring Clarence Darrow as defense lawyer and Senator Borah for the prosecution, the tale is almost Shakespearean in scope and provides a window into the lost world of blue collar Idaho. It is written with a highly lucid journalistic style and provides detailed lovingly drawn portraits of all the players and more. Much more. The author's vocabulary is lush and erudite which befits such a respected journalist, who tragically committed suicide shortly after writing this. However, despite being quite tangential myself, this book absolutely exhausted me in terms of its endless tangents. There is literally no attempt at editing or judiciously restraining the story in any way to stay on point. At more than 750 pages, committing to this book is a serious undertaking and I think few readers will bother to finish. One gets tangents about the history of Idaho baseball, portraits of the contemporary theatre scene, accounts of the Roosevelt Administration's inner machinations, discussions of African American veterans and racism in the Spanish Civil War (unlike some reviewers I rather enjoyed that one), a history of the newspaper industry and so very many more. Unfortunately it obscures the main points of the book and ironically the actual discussion of the trial gets limited pages despite being the point. This is very unfortunate because Lukas was obviously a learned and scholarly man and his history is worth reading but the text is overwhelming in its scope. It could have easily been cut by 300 pages.
April 18, 2022
This book has the main theme of the murder of Frank Steununberg on December 30,1905. Frank was a former governor of Idaho and during his tenure there had been a major miners strike. Frank had eventually called in troops to end the strike. This earned him the animosity of the Western Federation of Miners who had led the strike. The WFM had helped elect Steunenberg governor on a Democratic-Progressive ticket and thought he would side with labor. Frank was killed by a bomb planted in his gate. The killer, Harry Orchard, was soon caught and in his confession claimed he had been hired by the WFM leadership.
This lead to the arrest of Bill Haywood, George Pettinone and Charles Moyer were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. All three were in Colorado at the time of the murder, but either help of the governors of Idaho and Colorado Pinkerton agents kidnapped the three and took them to Idaho for trial.
The trial became a nationwide sensation. The defense was led by Clarence Darrow and William Borah was part of the prosecution team. The whole nation was watching.
This book involves more than just this event. The author gives the reader a social history of the period. He discusses political and social movements, the changes in news gathering and reporting as well as the rise of Hearst and Pulitzer papers. The book also discusses baseball and the theater.
All in all this book is a good read.
This lead to the arrest of Bill Haywood, George Pettinone and Charles Moyer were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. All three were in Colorado at the time of the murder, but either help of the governors of Idaho and Colorado Pinkerton agents kidnapped the three and took them to Idaho for trial.
The trial became a nationwide sensation. The defense was led by Clarence Darrow and William Borah was part of the prosecution team. The whole nation was watching.
This book involves more than just this event. The author gives the reader a social history of the period. He discusses political and social movements, the changes in news gathering and reporting as well as the rise of Hearst and Pulitzer papers. The book also discusses baseball and the theater.
All in all this book is a good read.
August 30, 2017
An interesting take on the people and events surrounding the murder of a former governor of Idaho by union bosses alleged to be upset with his actions in a labor dispute eight years earlier. Suffice to say, some of the characters covered are Clarence Darrow, William Borah, Teddy Roosevelt, Hearst, Pulitizer, Ethel Barrymore, Walter Johnson, Gov. Gooding, William Allen White, and of course, James McParland. If this seems like a lot, Lukas skillfully weaves these and others together around the course of the fin de cicle, in a comprehensive and interesting way. It is a long book, but well worth the effort. Chapter 1 almost reads like the first chapter of a James Michener book. The Pinkertons, Molly Maguires, Socialists, Anarchists, cowboys, lumbermen, sheepmen are all drawn together in a wild ride from the 1860s to 1912. It is too fragmented for a text, but for supplementary information and to get the feel of the times it is a great read.
Read
March 15, 2021lukas was such a curious little genius. Common Ground kicked my ass and i got overwhelmed by its level of detail (dude goes on like a 30 page run of detailing every single ancestor of the three families lmao like whoa dude), and i had to tap out to return to at a later time. he does the same thing in Big Trouble. not only is it great labor history, it's one of the best histories about a period i've ever read. while the assassination and trial are the lynchpin, he'll go down these little stunning rabbit holes, you can just feel his curiosity working. the roadshow theater industry and its slow monopolization, how hotels modernized, the importance of company baseball teams to little towns, the split between guild-y unions and the socialist movement, on and on. just incredibly fascinating. should be required for all Americans but especially anybody of the left to see what the fight really looked like. capital won, over and oooover.
January 20, 2025
A ponderous read -- maybe that's a bit harsh but this book really needed some good editing. Not in the actual writing. Lukas is a great writer and that is what kept me reading. But holy cow, we went down every single rabbit hole that could possibly exist in this story. There is one line on p. 718 where the author refers to one of the lawyers who "wanted to keep the focus on the Steunenberg assassination - which had sometimes gotten lost..." (p. 718) and that's exactly what I felt about this book. We got so wrapped up in the cast of characters and their back stories that I often lost sight of what the original story was.
With that said, the research in this book was impressive and the insight into the labor battles in the beginning of the 20th century made this a very interesting book.
With that said, the research in this book was impressive and the insight into the labor battles in the beginning of the 20th century made this a very interesting book.
April 18, 2024
Bloated and unwieldy, Lukas is clearly reaching for something transcendent here that he couldn’t quite grasp, but even with that in mind there’s a lot here that’s remarkable. The effect of the vast cast of characters and Lukas’s tendency for digression is that you feel like you’re reading a season of Deadwood, but it also provides a vital snapshot of the American West, when the spigot of free real estate had begun to run dry and the old class conflicts that Americans had thought were left in Europe began to reemerge. Almost unbelievable conclusion to the case, in which the socialist lawyer says to the jury in defense of his union boss client, ‘yeah he probably did it, but do you stand with him or with the banks?’ After which the jury decides ‘not guilty.’
July 28, 2024
I love historical novels, especially ones that show the more things change, the more they stay the same.
And I like it when context is given, showing that all of the characters involved have their own backstories, and did not just show up because the plot required them.
That being said, "Big Trouble" almost drowns in context - the plot in this 754 page epic probably takes up about 200 pages. While I'd rather have this than the opposite, oftentimes I found myself getting lost in the weeds.
Still, not a bad read focused on a state that typically does not get a lot of attention.
And I like it when context is given, showing that all of the characters involved have their own backstories, and did not just show up because the plot required them.
That being said, "Big Trouble" almost drowns in context - the plot in this 754 page epic probably takes up about 200 pages. While I'd rather have this than the opposite, oftentimes I found myself getting lost in the weeds.
Still, not a bad read focused on a state that typically does not get a lot of attention.
Read
June 28, 2020I looked forward to the journey of Big Trouble every single day I was reading this fair minded drama. Lukas provides research with a level of detail that truly gives you a slice of life of someone in Idaho (and America) in the 1900s. The cameos are magnificently interwoven, so you learn a ton (while having fun :)).We get an engrossing history of class warfare from the ground up as well as from a birds eye perspective. Phenomenal book.
June 3, 2020
This is a marvelous book. Sweeping is an adjective that come to mind. How ever you describe the book, it covers so many aspects of American history and society during the early 20th century that it’s almost difficult to categorize. The book was interesting from cover to cover and there are very few books I can say that about. It’s another book that has been, and will be, re-read.
March 28, 2023
Lukas uses a murder trial to paint a fascinating portrait of the US mountain west in the late guilded age & progressive periods. An absolutely mind-boggling level of historical detail, akin to Caro. The ability to weave it all together with relatively few loose ends is a major feat, although the resulting pattern is a bit overwrought.
January 1, 2022
I loved Common Ground, so this one was quite disappointing. Overly long, with way too many digressions, some of which only tangentially related to the main issue. I guess Lukas was aiming for a grand kaleidoscopic portrait of an era, but it just gets so tedious. The book can easily lose 400 pages.
October 2, 2022
So well done. The author takes this now (at least for me) obscure event and uses it to present an incredibly broad view of American life and society at this particular moment in time. The linking together of so many disparate pieces is quite seamless. This is the way history should be written.
August 20, 2024
it was very enjoyable reading but a physical ordeal handling a book this size. panoramic and closeup view of the political, social life of the early 1900's.. chuck full of details on all that touched the trial.
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