The Detonators : The secret plot to destroy America and an epic hunt for justice

One hundred years ago, in July 1916, an act of terrorism in New York Harbor changed the world. The attack in New York Harbor was so explosive that people as far away as Maryland felt the ground shake. Windows were blown out uptown at the New York Public Library; the main building at Ellis Island was nearly destroyed; Statue of Liberty was torn into by shrapnel from the explosion, which would have measured 5.5 on the Richter scale. Chaos overtook Manhattan as the midnight sky turned to fire, lit up with exploding ammunition. The year was 1916. And it had been shockingly easy. While war raged in Europe, Americans watched from afar, unthreatened by the danger overseas. Yet the United States was riddled with networks of German spies hiding in plain sight. The attack on New York Harbor was only one part of their plans: secret anthrax facilities were located just ten miles from the White House; bombs were planted on ships, hidden in buildings, and mailed to the country's civic and business leaders; and an underground syndicate helped potential terrorists obtain fake IDs, housing, and money. President Woodrow Wilson knew an attack of this magnitude was possible, and yet nothing was done to stop it. Americans, feeling buffered by miles of ocean and burgeoning prosperity, had ignored the mounting threat. That all changed on a warm summer evening in late July, when the island in New York Harbor called Black Tom exploded, setting alight a vast store of munitions destined for the front. Three American lawyers — John McCloy, Amos Peaslee, and Harold Martin — made it their mission to solve the Black Tom mystery. Their hunt for justice would take them undercover to Europe, deep into the shadowy world of secret agents and double-crosses, through the halls of Washington and the capitals of Europe. It would challenge their beliefs in right and wrong. And they would discover a sinister plot so vast it could hardly have been imagined — a conspiracy that stretched from downtown Manhattan to the very heart of Berlin. The Detonators is the first full accounting of a crime and a cover-up that resonate strongly in a post-9/11 America. And much of the atmosphere and rhetoric in play 100 years ago remains eerily similar to discussions surrounding national security and immigration today. As Millman deftly illustrates in The Detonators , an island may have disappeared, but the resulting lessons have only grown stronger and more urgent, and history has a persistent way of stirring up its ghosts. This is their story. "A gripping account of conspiracy." — New York Times "A ready-made suspense thriller." — Boston Globe "Exhaustively researched... fascinating." — Entertainment Weekly , 50 Hot Summer Books One hundred years ago, in July 1916, an act of terrorism in New York Harbor changed the world. The attack in New York Harbor was so explosive that people as far away as Maryland felt the ground shake. Windows were blown out uptown at the New York Public Library; the main building at Ellis Island was nearly destroyed; Statue of Liberty was torn into by shrapnel from the explosion, which would have measured 5.5 on the Richter scale. Chaos overtook Manhattan as the midnight sky turned to fire, lit up with exploding ammunition. The year was 1916. And it had been shockingly easy. While war raged in Europe, Americans watched from afar, unthreatened by the danger overseas. Yet the United States was riddled with networks of German spies hiding in plain sight. The attack on New York Harbor was only one part of their plans: secret anthrax facilities were located just ten miles from the White House; bombs were planted on ships, hidden in buildings, and mailed to the country's civic and business leaders; and an underground syndicate helped potential terrorists obtain fake IDs, housing, and money. President Woodrow Wilson knew an attack of this magnitude was possible, and yet nothing was done to stop it. Americans, feeling buffered by miles of ocean and burgeoning prosperity, had ignored the mounting threat. That all changed on a warm summer evening in late July, when the island in New York Harbor called Black Tom exploded, setting alight a vast store of munitions destined for the front.Three American lawyers — John McCloy, Amos Peaslee, and Harold Martin — made it their mission to solve the Black Tom mystery. Their hunt for justice would take them undercover to Europe, deep into the shadowy world of secret agents and double-crosses, through the halls of Washington and the capitals of Europe. It would challenge their beliefs in right and wrong. And they would discover a sinister plot so vast it could hardly have been imagined — a conspiracy that stretched from downtown Manhattan to the very heart of Berlin. __The Detonators____The Detonators__ This is their story. "A gripping account of conspiracy." — "A ready-made suspense thriller." — "Exhaustively researched... fascinating." — , 50 Hot Summer Books “A gripping account” of German spies, a massive explosion in New York Harbor, and the hunt for the conspirators (The New York Times). The attack in New York Harbor was so explosive that people as far away as Maryland felt the ground shake. Windows were blown out at the New York Public Library; the main building at Ellis Island was nearly destroyed; the Statue of Liberty was damaged. Chaos overtook Manhattan as the midnight sky turned to fire. The year was 1916. And it had been shockingly easy. As war raged in Europe, Americans watched from afar, unthreatened by the danger overseas. Yet the US was riddled with networks of German spies. The attack on the harbor was only a part of their plans: secret anthrax facilities were located ten miles from the White House; bombs were planted on ships, hidden in buildings, and mailed to civic and business leaders; and an underground syndicate helped potential terrorists obtain fake IDs, housing, and money. President Woodrow Wilson knew an attack of this magnitude was possible, yet nothing was done to stop it. Americans, feeling buffered by miles of ocean and burgeoning prosperity, had ignored the mounting threat. That all changed on a warm evening in July, when the island called Black Tom exploded, setting alight a vast store of munitions destined for the front. Three American lawyers made it their mission to solve the mystery. Their hunt for justice would take them into the shadowy world of secret agents and double-crosses, through the halls of Washington and the capitals of Europe. It would challenge their beliefs in right and wrong. And they would discover a sinister plot so vast it could hardly have been imagined—a conspiracy that stretched from downtown Manhattan to the very heart of Berlin. “A fascinating but little-known episode in World War I history . . . gripping reading.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An intriguing, bracing tale.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The Americans and Germans set up the Mixed Claims Commission (MCC) to handle the dispensation of claims by Americans against the Germans for acts carried out during the war. Two of the largest claims involved sabotage against an arms manufacturer and a shipping pier. Although eventually settled in the claimants' favor, it took from the end of WWI to the start of WWII to resolve, and was resolved largely through growing disinterest on the part of the new German government to defend itself. An account of the World War I bombing of Black Tom Island in New York Harbor describes the reticence of the president to prevent the attack, the German government's evasion of responsibility, and the efforts of lawyers to determine accountability