I never recreate dialogue. I have often been asked by people, ‘You must have made this up because this is dialogue, right?’ Anything in my books that is in quotes comes from some kind of living historical document: a letter, a memoir, a court transcript, a newspaper interview. Erik Larson Read Quote
Every time I sit down to reread ‘War and Peace’ – I’ve read it three times – I feel as though I’ve lived another life. Erik Larson Read Quote
The thing I always tell my writing students – I’m not a full-time instructor, by any means, but periodically I’ve taught writing students – what I always tell them is that the most important thing in narrative nonfiction is that you not only have to have all the research; you have to have about 100% more than you need. Erik Larson Read Quote
At some point in the idea process, I simply wear myself down and force myself to choose. But here’s the thing: Once I do choose, suddenly all the other possibilities wither and die, and thus I never have a backlog of well-formed ideas waiting for me when my latest book gets finished. Erik Larson Read Quote
The Devil in the White City’ – the ‘White City’ was the nickname for the World’s Fair of 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Erik Larson Read Quote
In hunting ideas for books, I look for stories about long-past events that once commanded the world’s attention but that, for one reason or another, faded from contemporary awareness. Erik Larson Read Quote
The SA, that is the – shorthand, those are the storm troopers. Those are the folks who are commanded by Captain Ernst Rohm. Erik Larson Read Quote
It was a civilian ship, and the Lusitania could outrun any submarine. So this population of people was very confident that Cunard and the Royal Navy would be looking after them. Why weren’t they under convoy? That’s the real question. Erik Larson Read Quote
I read a book called ‘Transatlantic’, which is a history of the great shipping lines. Also, of course, I had read about the Titanic and saw Leo drowning at the end of the ‘Titanic’ movie and all that stuff. Erik Larson Read Quote
Room 40 knew a U-boat was heading south to Liverpool – knew the boat’s history; knew that it was now somewhere in the North Atlantic under orders to sink troop transports and any other British vessel it encountered; and knew as well that the submarine was armed with enough shells and torpedoes to sink a dozen ships. Erik Larson Read Quote
