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On Halloween Eve 1938, Orson Welles put on a radio play of War of the Worlds and terrorized an uneasy American public on the brink of World War II, perpetuating the greatest hoax in history and changing media forever. Dead Air brings to life this fateful night and follows the life and career of Welles before and after the historic broadcast.
List of contents
The Magician
Prologue
PART 1: THE SET UP
Chapter 1: Who Is Orson Welles?
Chapter 2: Something Deathless and Dangerous
Chapter 3: Rosebud
Chapter 4: Something Dark and Brutal
Chapter 5: The Shadow
Chapter 6: The Cradle Will Rock
Chapter 7: Dummies
Chapter 8: The Perfect Setup
Chapter 9: Martians
Chapter 10: The Script
PART 2: BROADCAST
Chapter 11: The Crapperoo
Chapter 12: Dead Air
Chapter 13: A Wave of Mass Hysteria
Chapter 14: Go Home and Prepare to Die
Chapter 15: The Whole Country Was Bursting Open
Chapter 16: Terrorist in Action
Chapter 17: A Long Night
Chapter 18: Nationwide Terror
Chapter 19: Durn Fools
Chapter 20: Campbells on the Air
Chapter 21: War of the Worlds
Epilogue
Notes
Index
About the Author
About the author
William Elliott Hazelgrove is the national bestselling author of ten novels and fourteen narrative nonfiction titles, including Dead Air: The Night That Orson Welles Terrified America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), and Al Capone and the 1933 World's Fair: The End of the Gangster Era in Chicago (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly Kirkus, Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editor’s Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections, Literary Guild Selections, History Book Club Selections, and optioned for movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today, The Smithsonian Magazine, Daily Mail, and other publications, and has been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, CSPAN, and USA Today have all covered his books with features. More information can be found at www.williamhazelgrove.com.
