#1 New York Times BestsellerFrom the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the LusitaniaOn May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were surprisingly … The passengers were surprisingly at ease, even though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, German U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds”—the fastest liner then in service—and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack.
Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger’s U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small—hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more—all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history.
It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love.
Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster whose intimate details and true meaning have long been obscured by history.
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Well-written novel of a true historical event. The author was able to make the experience more realistic by creating dialogue that was appropriate to the time, place, and the people on the ship.
Larson always delivers!
Very good. Like his work such as Devil in the White City.
Erik Larson writes awesome books about history. He brings it to life!
No where near as entertaining as his other books
This was really an excellent book if you like historical fiction. I understand this event much more now because the characters and action were brought to life in such a powerful way.
Erik Larson’s has taken on killer hurricanes, a serial killer at the Chicago World’s Fair, and the Nazis It seems entirely appropriate that his latest book is on the sinking (by the Nazis’s forebears, no less) of the Lusitania.
Larson undertakes his research and engages his readers with the same gusto I have come to expect. He provides a …
This non fiction book takes you from the building of the Lusitania and the I-Boat to the story of the captains who commanded the ships. Slow to start, it really picks up when the people board the ship!
I’ve enjoyed other books by Erik Larson, so I got this book. It was informative and, as always, well researched. Nonetheless, I didn’t enjoy this book as well as “Devil in the White City” and “In the Garden of Beasts.” I never felt vested in any of the individual characters (who were real, as this was not fiction).
Great book on a little known subject in history. Loved all the interesting facts throughout the entire book!
not an easy read, but certainly worth the effort.
I’ve enjoyed all the Erik Larsen books I’ve read, and I feel this was probably the most readable of them.
No one pulls together all of the story lines like Eric Larson. This book and Devil in the White City are really good books. If you like history, but you also want a page turning story try an Eric Larson book.
Very well-researched historical account of the Lusitania’s tragic last voyage. Mr. Larson is a great storyteller, making history so interesting, never dull.
Once again, Erik Larsen has written a wonderful book that is Non Fiction but reads like Fiction. You are introduced to the German submarine captain who manages to sink a ship with many American passengers. Even though you know the outcome it still reads like a mystery and your hoping for a different ending. Larsen describes many of the passengers …
I love Erik Larsen books.
I am a huge fan of Erik Larson and his work. This was his most recent book and unfortunately, his last offering so far. Am really looking forward to his next offering!
Memorable