Nonfiction Night: The Infernal Machine

The Infernal Machine is a riveting account of the anarchists who terrorized the streets of New York — and the detective duo who transformed policing to meet the threat. Steven Johnson is the bestselling author of The Ghost Map and Enemy of All Mankind. Join our nonfiction club to discuss this title in July!

Print copies will be available at the Brighton Branch front desk while supplies last.

Nonfiction Night reads nonfiction across a wide variety of subjects. No registration required, you're welcome to drop in. We also welcome readers who decided not to or weren't able to finish the book – as long as you're okay with spoilers.

From the book description:

When Arthur Woods took command of the NYPD in April of 1914, the institution was still largely the corrupt, low-tech organization of the Tammany Hall era. The solving of crimes was largely outside their purview.

Woods was determined to change that, but he couldn't have anticipated the maelstrom of violence that would test his science-based approach to policing. Within weeks of his tenure, New York City was engulfed in the most concentrated terrorism campaign in the nation's history. This marked a five-year period of relentless bombings, many of them perpetrated by the anarchist movement led by the legendary radicals Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman.

Steven Johnson reveals a mostly forgotten period of political conviction, scientific discovery, assassination plots, bombings, undercover operations, and innovative sleuthing.

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