Rating: 
Summary: An excellent history and overview of a period
Review: Having lived in Idaho only five years, I found Big Trouble to be an extremely interesting book. I actually live in the Coeur d'Alenes, in Wallace, only 10 miles from the Bunker Hill Concentrator in Wardner and about 6 miles from Burke, and, although I had heard of the mining wars, and a little about the Steunenburg assasination, I had no idea of the national attention this incident received, much less coming close to instigating a Socialist revolution. I learned a lot from reading this book. I will admit that the author does go off on tangents, which may seem annoying at first, but eventually, one gets to see the point, and they actually begin to become interesting. Lukas is giving a good overview of the period, so that we can fully experience the situation, and dive right in, along with Haywood, Borah, Darrow and McParland, and, in a sense, experience the trial with them. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Idaho history!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent history and overview of a period
Review: Having lived in Idaho only five years, I found Big Trouble to be an extremely interesting book. I actually live in the Coeur d'Alenes, in Wallace, only 10 miles from the Bunker Hill Concentrator in Wardner and about 6 miles from Burke, and, although I had heard of the mining wars, and a little about the Steunenburg assasination, I had no idea of the national attention this incident received, much less coming close to instigating a Socialist revolution. I learned a lot from reading this book. I will admit that the author does go off on tangents, which may seem annoying at first, but eventually, one gets to see the point, and they actually begin to become interesting. Lukas is giving a good overview of the period, so that we can fully experience the situation, and dive right in, along with Haywood, Borah, Darrow and McParland, and, in a sense, experience the trial with them. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Idaho history!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: I agree that this book could have been edited much better, but all in all this is a tremendous book. It took me several months to finish, but it was worth it. It is a shame that the world will not see anymore books from Lukas
Rating:
Summary: Ambitious and successful epic of American history
Review: I loved this book. Lukas takes an event like the murder of Frank Steunenberg and, like a good and imaginative cultural historian, uses it as a springboard into cunningly disguised racial, class, and gender analyses. I also liked the fact that he demythologized Big Bill Haywood and Clarence Darrow by portraying them as human beings and not artifacts of Soviet-style Socialist Realism. His marshaling of evidence to suggest Haywood's involvement in Steunenberg's murder was particularly impressive. That being said, though, it does not necessarily follow that Haywood's ends were anywhere near as despicable as his means (very much the opposite, in my opinion), and it is ridiculous to assert, as one reviewer did, that Haywood's beloved "rosy red glow" of "Leninist Russia...began that country's retreat from modern civilized political and economic practice." The Tsarist massacre of peaceful protesters in 1905 St. Petersburg and the pogroms against the Jews (the most notorious of which took place in Kishinev, Moldavia, in 1903, only two years before the Steunenberg murder) were no more "civilized" than similar actions taken by Nazi Germany in 1933-45 and Communist China at various times after 1949. Violence begets violence, a maxim amply borne out by BIG TROUBLE. One of the great things about this book is that it expands on incidents revealing the sinister side of American capitalism and the desperate odds Haywood and his more law-abiding compatriots were up against.
Rating:
Summary: A superb read-A detailed, factual gem-History at its best.
Review: I took this book on vacation, out west, in the Montana mountains, close to where some of the action took place. The factual detail of this superbly written historical book was fascinating.While I would liked to have learned a little more detail about the trial itself, still the authors use of detour into the personalities surrounding this episode and the events and consequences that were spawned by the initial tragedy kept me glued to the book. Its a tall task to tackle this book from its size alone but when you are finished you put it down, take a deep breath and sigh "wow" that was a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book. Reads like fiction.
Review: It was with great sadness that I learned of Anthony Lukas' death. Having been prompted by 'Big Trouble' to read his other prize winning book 'Common Ground', I am convinced we've lost a major talent and human being. Having lived in Boise, Idaho, this account of the murder of the Governor during the turn of the century was fascinating. Readers may be interested to know that the Idanha Hotel, where many of the key figures lived during the trial still bears their famous names on the room doors. The book is so exhaustively researched that details of conversations come out allowing it to be read almost like a novel. I found the diversions helpful in illuminating and embellishing the atmosphere and culture of the day. The beauty of this book is that you learn about so many different historical events and issues, not just the one at the center of the story. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Class warfare in 1900's Idaho.
Review: It's a blockbuster of a book and I had to buy a book-holder for reading it in bed. It comes in a big package - over 750 pages in my trade-paperback edition. And it's American History made fascinating. What a mini-series this would be. What a movie! Lukas did painstaking research, not only in the relevant areas but in minor side-events and personages...all the tidbits of curious information about major and minor players in this riveting event of history.
Then add suspense, ..........What more do you need? Do something nice for yourself. Read this wonderful story told with consummate skill and sensitivity.
Rating:
Summary: Class warfare in 1900's Idaho.
Review: It's a blockbuster of a book and I had to buy a book-holder for reading it in bed. It comes in a big package - over 750 pages in my trade-paperback edition. And it's American History made fascinating. What a mini-series this would be. What a movie! Lukas did painstaking research, not only in the relevant areas but in minor side-events and personages...all the tidbits of curious information about major and minor players in this riveting event of history.
Then add suspense, ..........What more do you need? Do something nice for yourself. Read this wonderful story told with consummate skill and sensitivity.
Rating:
Summary: A vivid historical account: exhaustive and fulfilling
Review: Lucas was an obsessive journalist who wanted ALL the facts to paint a picture that resounds in the envisionment of the reader. There is emotion, breath, hunger, and passion in his work, BIG TROUBLE. Here, a cast of characters become involved in anarchism, greed, adultry, manipulation, baseball, the movies, politics, and power to show how people are truly involved in a real human soap opera. Lukas makes us feel the harshness of the winters, the dust of the western road, and the remoteness of the western U.S. in 1906. But he also shows how this western landscape was changed forever by the money brokers of the East, the political maneuverings of Washington, and the revoltionaries from the Midwest. Combine that with a highly charged, senastional trial that is, perhaps, only surrpassed by O.J. Simpson, Sacco-Vanzetti, Leopold/Loeb, or the Scopes Trial, Lucas created a masterpiece. Note that Clarence Darrow, at the heart of this trial, was also involved in two of the other most celebrated cases in U.S. history. Here, he, along with all of the other lawyers show their true colors in seeking victory rather than the truth. My only regret was that I only learned of Lucas only after he became so desperate that he ended his own life: I wish that I would have had the chance to discuss his methods, motives, and maniae -- some of which I share. Lucas was a remarkable writer who turned mere history into a life that the reader can relive. His talent for detail, both in facts as well as illumination, provides for fascinating reading. If you live in the past, you will find relief from our modern life. If you think that the past is irrelevent, read BIG TROUBLE to find how little we have evolved in 100 years.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent portrayal of turn of century America
Review: Lukas did a spendid job in Big Trouble. The story of the small town murder, the trial and the actions of those involved, including the politicians, lawyers, accused, the press and the members of the WFM is an intriquing mystery and courtroom story. But one soon realizes, if they are paying attention, that the trial is not the true focus of this book. Hung on the trial story is the American society of the turn of the century. Lukas does a wonderful job of taking us back to that era and allowing us to understand, even live within the times. He studies every aspect of the culture which plays out behind the action of the trial of those accused of Stuenenberg's murder. When one is done reading this mammoth book, they will know about the trial, certainly. But more importantly, they will have been to the guilded age and the world that laid the foundations for our own.
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