Take a photo of a barcode or cover
outsmartyourshelf 's review for:
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
The intriguing story of Louis Le Prince who spent the final years of the 1880s working on a way to capture & show moving images. Le Prince wanted to be able to capture momentous events on film for future generations but not just in still images (photographs). After several years of being parted from his family (who were living in New York) whilst he toiled in England, Le Prince was finally ready to unveil his invention but first took a trip to see his brother & family back in France. Following the visit, Le Prince boarded the train from Dijon to Paris & was never seen again. As he was reported as missing & no body was ever found, his family could not take over his patents for 7 years & had to sit & watch others claim the prize for themselves. Edison himself debuted his invention only a few months after Le Prince's disappearance, & Le Prince's family began to wonder if something nefarious had befallen their relative.
I must admit I'd not heard of Louis Le Prince at all before seeing this book but, like most people, I love a good real life mystery. The author obviously did lots of research on the subject, & sometimes it can get a little bogged down in the details, but it was mostly a fascinating read. The only issue I have is that the narrative spends 90% of its time positioning itself to ask whether Edison was involved - only to pivot at the last minute & offer up another suspect (one that I suspected myself to be honest). It's a shame that we will never know the truth of what happened.
I must admit I'd not heard of Louis Le Prince at all before seeing this book but, like most people, I love a good real life mystery. The author obviously did lots of research on the subject, & sometimes it can get a little bogged down in the details, but it was mostly a fascinating read. The only issue I have is that the narrative spends 90% of its time positioning itself to ask whether Edison was involved - only to pivot at the last minute & offer up another suspect (one that I suspected myself to be honest). It's a shame that we will never know the truth of what happened.