Dead Wake

It’s a true story that reads like a mystery, thriller, and yet was an actual historical event.

There were so many little things that could have gone differently that would have changed the ultimate outcome for the Lusitania. It’s like a metaphor for life – small differences can result in huge outcomes…sometimes wonderful, sometimes terrible.

I loved it because of the intrigue, the rich character descriptions, and how it reminded me of Greek tragedies with the “hubris” of many of those involved in the ship’s ultimate fate. I was immersed in a fascinating history lesson, story, and character study all… show more.

Dead Wake is fact that reads like fiction. Not often do I choose a book already knowing how it ends. His artistic rendering of the world in 1915 is alone worth the read. He introduces us to the passengers of the SS Lusitania, who they are, why they are on the ship, and he makes us care.

Larson limns Captains Turner of the Lusitania, and Schweiger of the U-20, the Imperial German submarine. The author carefully choreographs the final voyage of the doomed ship. The sinking is not the end of the story. 

The last third of… show more.

Dead Wake is a history lesson disguised as a thoroughly engrossing story. Larson skillfully tells the tragic tale of the British ocean liner and the German U-boat that torpedoed her. He paints a vivid picture of the 1915 era and the maritime tragedy that helped push the United States into World War One. I was struck by the many similarities between the sinking of the Lusitania and the 1994 B-52 crash at Fairchild, particularly the multiple warnings that went unheeded and the missteps that preceded the tragedy.  

Step on board the fateful Lusitania on its last voyage to Europe from New York City in May of 1915. Set sail with the confident Captain William Thomas Turner, rare book collector Charles Lauriat, actress Rita Jolivet, the affluent Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and many others from all walks of life. You will also board Walther Schweiger’s U-20 and discover the harsh conditions of living on a submarine. I found Larson’s non-fiction book to be a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at a horrific event often only known by name in history.