The 1939 World’s Fair in New York City was supposed to usher in a new world of peace and prosperity from the depression that had gripped the nation. It was called the World of Tomorrow, but this glorious vision of the future would be disrupted by the beginning of World War II.

In 1934 a disagreement between a father and his young daughter led to the idea of a world’s fair that would eventually become a for profit business. However, going from the idea to the actual opening was full of drama with such strong personalities as Robert Moses, Mayor La Guardia and Grover Whalen who had been the official greeter of New York City and expanded the ticker tape parade.

Twilight at the World of Tomorrow: Genius, Madness, Murder, and the 1939 World’s Fair on the Brink of War by James Mauro is the story of this doomed extravaganza and intertwines the story of Albert Einstein’s own struggles with the threat of war as well as the two detectives that would investigate the bombing at the fair. A fascinating account of this famous world’s fair and it’s turbulent times.

Christina Callison

Christina Callison has been blogging about books for the library’s website since 2006. She has read hundreds of books that include mysteries, fantasies, horror, thrillers, non-fiction, general fiction, and some science fiction. She continues with her goal of finding new books and authors to recommend.