Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
100 years ago this month, while enroute from NYC to Liverpool, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German submarine eleven miles off the coast of Ireland. The 787-foot, 44,000 ton pride of the Cunard Steam-Ship Company sank in just eighteen minutes taking over 1,200 lives. The incident is generally considered the catalyst for the USA’s entry into World War I.
In his new book on the subject, Dead Wake, author Erik Larson doesn’t reveal any new information about the tragedy, which has been covered exhaustively by historians over the years. (Although he strongly suggests that the British Admiralty including First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, knew more about the sub’s movements than they admitted.)
Instead Larson has written a suspenseful tale of cat and mouse. The narrative alternates between Captain Walther Schwieger and his men in their claustrophobic transport gliding silently beneath the surface of the water, and Captain William Thomas Turner, his crew, and an assortment of guests blissfully cruising above.
Dead Wake is not as compelling as Larson’s earlier books In the Garden of Beasts or Devil in the White City. The last few chapters in particular feel a bit rushed as if Larson ran out of time or interest, but it is still a pleasurable (and quick) read.
Who Wrote It
Erik Larson is the author of four national bestsellers: In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac’s Storm , which have collectively sold more than 5.5 million copies. His books have been published in seventeen countries.
What Other Reviews Say
The Boston Globe: “Larson has a gift for transforming historical re-creations into popular recreations, and “Dead Wake” is no exception…Larson provides first-rate suspense, a remarkable achievement given that we already know how this is going to turn out.”