Book Recommendation – The Last Days of Night

When I was in elementary school we did a play about Thomas Edison. It was a musical called The Electric Sunshine Man. I don’t remember too much about it except that I was a cowboy in one of Edison’s moving pictures. Big role! I was on stage for like 3.7 seconds.

I digress. Back to Edison.

In 2017, Benedict Cumberbatch starred as Thomas Edison in the film “The Current War.” That “war” was also the topic of “The Last Days of Night” by Graham Moore.

The current war revolves around the electric light bulb and the debate over AC and DC current. I do not believe that the Cumberbatch film was based on this book. The book is based in fact, however, it is historical fiction. The time lines are adjusted a bit for the book. Much of the book and dialogue came from journals, court transcripts, and other writings. At the close of the book, the author lays out for you the things that were fact and the things where he took some liberties.

The main characters in the book are George Westinghouse, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and lawyer Paul Cravath.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make history–and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country?

The case affords Paul entry to the heady world of high society–the glittering parties in Gramercy Park mansions, and the more insidious dealings done behind closed doors. The task facing him is beyond daunting. Edison is a wily, dangerous opponent with vast resources at his disposal–private spies, newspapers in his pocket, and the backing of J. P. Morgan himself. Yet this unknown lawyer shares with his famous adversary a compulsion to win at all costs. How will he do it?

In obsessive pursuit of victory, Paul crosses paths with Nikola Tesla, an eccentric, brilliant inventor who may hold the key to defeating Edison, and with Agnes Huntington, a beautiful opera singer who proves to be a flawless performer on stage and off. As Paul takes greater and greater risks, he’ll find that everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they seem.

If you are a history buff like me, I think you will enjoy this book. It was certainly interesting to see a side of Edison that is not portrayed in the history books.

4 out of 5 stars