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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.487430973
EAN num: 9780316734967
ISBN number: 0316734969
Label: Little, Brown and Company
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: July 12, 2006
Publishing house: Little, Brown and Company
Sale Popularity Level: 49945
Studio: Little, Brown and Company
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A tale of terrorism, espionage, and an epic struggle for justice in an America on the verge--sparked by a massive and mysterious explosion in New York Harbor in 1916.
In 1916, while the Allied and Central forces waged war in Europe, a group of German saboteurs blew up Black Tom Island, a spit of land in New York Harbor within earshot of downtown Manhattan. The subsequent hail of missiles and gunpowder devastated much of lower Manhattan. The attack--so massive that as far away as Maryland people could feel the ground shake--had been shockingly easy. America was littered with networks of German agents, hiding in full daylight, an enemy within plotting further, deadlier attacks. All the way up to the president, officials had known something like this could happen, and yet nothing had been done.
Twenty years later, the German government had still managed to evade responsibility for the crime--and probably would have continued to, were it not for the determination of three lawyers named McCloy, Peaslee, and Martin. These men--most crucially the young John McCloy--made it their mission to solve a mystery that began during the very first World War and barely ended before the second. THE DETONATORS is a fascinating portrait of these men and their time, an era in which the rising American establishment engaged the world. It is also the dramatic love story of John and Ellen McCloy, and the very first full accounting of a crime and a cover-up that resonates strongly in a post-9/11 America.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is a wonderful read - interesting, relevant and timely, and better than fiction. Millman has struck an excellent balance, weaving facts into a captivating narrative that is a perfect book for relaxed reading. Books like THE DETONATORS should be part of curricula in high school and college history courses because it brings history alive. Impressive that a sports guy can turn such an excellent page-turner.
Rated by buyers 
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The Detonators, by Chad Millman
In 1916 terrorists set off a great explosion on the railroad docks of Jersey City ("Black Tom"). These agents of Imperial Germany attacked the shipping and manufacturing in America that produced munitions for Britain, France, and Imperial Russia. The propaganda machine generated a frenzy of hatred towards anything "German"; frankfurters were renamed "hot dogs" (implying they were made from dog meat, which tastes like pork). Wall Street depended on an Allied victory, and the President followed their instructions. German sympathies provoked "Americanization" programs in schools (p.3). In 1914 New York Harbor was the biggest in the world (p.7). Every German ship in America had been interned, and they crowded the harbor. In November 1914 the German military attaché was ordered to sabotage ships, then war factories (p.14). A chemist created a time-delayed incendiary device. Soon mysterious fires and explosions broke out (p.24). Investigations led to the recall of German military attachés by December 1915. But their network of saboteurs remained (Chapter 4). Besides incendiary devices, German spies spread anthrax and glanders among the horses and mules shipped to the British and French in Europe (p.70).
Just after midnight the German saboteurs planted their incendiary devices on the barges and railroad cars on Black Tom. Soon a fire broke out, and the very first explosion was after 2 AM on July 30, 1916. Windows were broken in Jersey City and in New York city across the Hudson. Chapter 7 describes the extensive property damage; only 5 lives were lost (p.94). The fires and explosions were not attributed to saboteurs (p.97). Chapter 8 tells of the differences between New York and Philadelphia (p.103). The Treaty of Berlin ended the war with the US in 1921. The US took possession of all German property seized during the war (p.117). Within a few years most claims were settled. The one big item was the claim for the destruction of Black Tom and the Kingsland munitions plant. Michael Kristoff had been arrested on 9/31/1916 on suspicion, but released for lack of proof (p.125). A former Secret Service agent claimed German saboteurs did it. Amos Peaslee, the lawyer for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, searched Washington to find lost files about German activities (p.129). The German government had ordered the destruction of munitions, but they chose to fight the suit for political reasons (p.131).
Peaslee was able to obtain the decoded German messages that mentioned their sabotage in the USA (p.137). Without a settlement, the case was turned over to the Mixed Claims Commission (p.139). Chapter 11 begins the case against Germany. Bonynge said the Germans destroyed the records. Von Lewinski replied this was done to prevent the Bolsheviks from getting them (p.157)! Bonynge sums up the case for Germany's involvement on page 186. There was a problem with the handwriting experts (p.216, p.223), The final settlement of the Black Tom claims was due to a promise of improved trade relations (pp.245-246). An old memo destroyed Germany's case (p.265)! The plaintiffs won (p.273). "Transistors" (p.280)?
This book concentrates on the legal side of the events. Henry Landau's "The Enemy Within" gives a more complete account to German sabotage in 1916 America. There is no description of each chapter in the table of contents. The number of photographs are sparse. There is nothing about the San Francisco Preparedness Day bombing! Curt Gentry's "Frame-Up" isn't even mentioned.
Rated by buyers -
How no one thought to write this book until now is extraordinary. Millman found a chapter in U.S. history that eerily foreshadows the events of 9/11 and beyond, and he had the writerly discipline to avoid hitting readers over the head with it. Instead, he tells a dramtaic story of espionage and legal intrigue, in prose that's fast-paced and easily accessible without being simple or condescending. Perfect summer reading. Fall, Winter and Spring, too.
Rated by buyers 
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I grew up in Jersey City, and my entire family hailed from that town, having emigrated there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Never once did any member of the family mention the Black Tom explosion except when I inquired about it.
It was quickly forgotten at the time because the damage was limited principally to some broken windows--not the total destruction of Jersey City and lower Manhattan that Millman claims in his reading from and discusion of the book on C-Span2.
It's sensationalism of the worst sort, with Millman trying to make it read like an earlier-time 9/11.
Rated by buyers -
In 1916 World War I was going full strength in Europe but America was not involved. Or to be more accurate America was willing to sell anything (such as arms and ammunition) to anyone and everyone.
Because of the blockade imposed on Germany by England and France, this effectively meant that nothing could be sold to Germany but England and France could get anything they wanted. Germany was not pleased by this state of affairs.
On July 30, 1916 there was an estimated two million pounds of explosives and ammunition in storage on Black Tom Island in New York harbor. German agents were able to blow it up.
Strangely enough there seemed to be little investigation of the incident until many years later when three lawyers outside of the Government uncovered the facts. This book is the story of the German plot and the subsequent investigations. This incident is so little known that this is a very welcome book.
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