Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson (PDF)

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania“Both terrifying and enthralling.”—Entertainment Weekly“Thrilling, dramatic and powerful.”—NPR“Thoroughly engrossing.”—George R.R. MartinOn 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 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.Finalist for the Washington State Book Award • One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Miami Herald, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, LibraryReads, Indigo

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The book is about:The book Dead wake is a historically based novel- like non-fiction that relates to the sink of Lusitania, one of the major reasons why did America get involved in the world one. Unlike the textbook or the objective documents that represent the official recording of this event. This book gradually brings the whole events out from all the small perspectives of people who got involved or lost their lives in it. The author’s big motivation for writing this book is to let people experience the whole events from the basic stories. Normally the information we received from those world war 1 documents is simple and unemotional. Without the name of dead people, there are not strong feelings through reading the death numbers. Without the background information, there is no explanation to why the boat was sunk by torpedoes. The author of this book drew the world of readers back to the last century, the happiness, desires, hopelessness from people are all seems close enough to touch. Even though the book itself focused mostly on the Boat and the submarine U-20 which sunk it, the characterization of other passengers on Lusitania is attractive and interesting. The movement of different organization and famous people such as American president Wilson were all caught by Erik Larson.More than a normal non-fiction, Dead Wake shows its strength on imitating the humanity and atmospheres. The whole book is having a comparably easy and comfortable rhythm at the first chapter. Rather than just talking about the big historical event itself, Erik Larson fills in more small details and personal life parts into the skeleton of the book, to make it more vivid. On the other hand, the people on lusitania are not all the characters he focuses on. For example, the one who received the order to sank the boat with torpedoes, Captain Schwieger of the submarine U-20 is actually a pretty hard-working and nice captain in his normal life. ‘Yet among his peers and crew Schwieger was known for this kindness and good humor and for maintaining a cheerful atmosphere aboard his submarine.’ However, the war is cruel and cold-bloody, the perspective of enemies helped me understand the conception of the war better. Overall, this book is pretty nice book that can bring the readers into the experiences of the events happened in the past. Also, for one who is learning the First World War, this book gave me more new knowledge and brought me a historical event that I did not even hear before. The relationship between this book and the First world war build me a bridge on the way of studying this part of the history.Relationship to the world war 1Before America participated in the first world war, German started to attack any boats that had the British relationships near the British sea areas. They posted the news on the newspaper and this truly caused a lot of people to change their ideas. However, the passengers on lusitania didn’t see the risk they taking, because the boat they are taking was having the greatest speed in the whole world thanks to its newest technology. All the people believed that there weren’t any submarines able to catch the boat due to its unbelievable speed at that time. Unfortunately, the extrema of fog happened on the open sea of the Ireland. This accidentally triggered the following tragedy. The meeting of U-20 submarine and lusitania was not predicted by room 40, an organization which mainly focused the interception of telegrams from German in that period this time. This time, the speed of lusitania did not function as much as they thought. The boat is stucked in the fog, without the eyesight for speeding up. The U-20 caught the boat and gave the first torpedo under the order of captain Schwieger. The boat was hugely impacted and shook. People were running around and spreading out the scare. Then, not until most of them reached the bridge of the boat, the second the torpedo was launched without any hesitation. This one ensure the sink of the boat and caused nine tenth of the passengers on the boat fell into the deep water with the boat. Among the 1200 passengers who died in this event, there were nearly a hundred Americans. Only 300 corpse of were found after the boat was sunk by the U-20. This, undoubtedly, stimulate the anger of Americans. All the citizens want to give Germany punishment for their evil behaves. By the fact of other events, America was involved into this war finally.The reflections after reading the booksAlthough I am reading a book of historical event, the feeling I received from the book is not limited on just a historical event. It is something deeper and was truly impacting my emotions. After reading the 300 pages in the book, most passengers became true people who used to live somewhere in the world vividly. I would love to talk with them if I was there. However, 1200 lives were end only because of two torpedoes. One of the greatest boat at that time was sunk. The declaration of Germany proved that they need an enemy who could teach them an unforgettable lesson. And that was what America did. I was usually imagining that what kind of fear was spreading at the last moment before the boat sunk. The mixture of 1200 people’s emotion before their death must be filled by darkness and blood. Many people on the boat was trying to look for someone they knew on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. The captain of the boat was not concerning of the disaster at all. No one could predict the existence of both fog and German submarine until they met. ‘Turner had no concern about the German warning. Shortly before departure, he was standing on the ship’s promenade deck, talking with Alfred Vanderbilt and Charles Frohman, when one of the ship-news man — apparently not Jack Lawrence — approached and asked Vanderbilt if he thought he’d be as lucky this time as he had been in deciding not to sail on the Titanic. Vanderbilt smiled but said nothing.’ The people on the whole boat could not noticed the event. How many people died without noticing their situation? This is my biggest question after reading the book.Lusitania was definitely a boat that can let the people inside feel the atmosphere of happiness. ‘“Ships do have personalities,” wrote Jack Lawrence, the shipping writer for he New York Evening Mail. Some ships “have warm, friendly atmosphere while others are only steel plates riveted around throbbing turbines.”’ There were some children and infants on the boat and only one tenth of them finally survived. ‘The passenger manifest listed ninety-five children and thirty-nine infants’ It told me that no one can be ignored by the war when the enemy catches you. The fearness of war is remained in my mind by this book after seeing the innocent death under the big environment of the war. Thanks to this book, I learnt the fearness of the war.The reasons for people to read this bookIn conclusion, this book is definitely recommended for readers, even for those who are not interested in the world war one. From my perspective, the book focused more on people instead of events. The details in a person’s life usually appear for characterizing the personality of this person. The intention of For example, ‘Lauriat took the scrapbooks back to his home in Cambridge, where he inspected them in the company of his wife, Marian. He then packed them carefully, in his extension suitcase, and locked it. At the station later that night, he checked his trunk and shoe box for transport direct to the lusitania but held back his other three pieces. He kept these with him in the calendar.’ the characteristics of one of the passengers on the boat, Lauriat, a bookseller who usually went to Britain for transporting books, is fully shown for the readers. The introduction of boats or submarines are also comprehensive and informational for those people who want to learn more about the world war One. ‘U-boats in fact traveled underwater as little as possible, typically only in extreme weather or when attacking ships or dodging destroyers.’ The professional explanation like this line appeared commonly in the book. In short, the book is fascinating and interesting, feeling the past historical events from it is the attraction no readers can reject.

⭐Dead Wake by Erik Larson was an enjoyable read and largely a page turner. My opinion, however, is that it focused too much on the passengers of the Lusitania. Apart from the child passengers, I am struggling to have sympathy with those who chose to cross the North Atlantic during the World War I. If you choose to enter a war zone and get hurt as a result, you are to blame. Also, under no circumstances, do you have any right to take your children with you. It was wrong and idiotic of the Lusitania passengers to sail into the North Atlantic and unforgiveable that many of them took their underage offspring!Also, the Lusitania was transporting ammunition and other supplies to Liverpool to support the British war effort. As a result, the German Navy was justified in sinking this ship. Winston Churchill even wanted German submarines to sink more civilian vessels, especially those carrying Americans, as that would increase the possibility of the United States entering the war to support the UK.History and the world are complicated. Rarely is a situation black and white and right and wrong.

⭐“Thunderstruck” is not just the title of one of Erik Larson’s books, it is the reaction readers will feel when the have finished his latest work, “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania”. The 1915 wartime sinking of this luxury liner usually rates a brief mention in history books, and lives forever in the R.M.S. Titanic’s shadow. As we approach the 100th anniversary, Larson takes us on an incredible journey across the Atlantic on a ship marked for destruction.The Lusitania was known was one of the fastest and most elegant ships of her time. As World War One began, the speed of the Lusitania made her ideal for crossings. This was especially appreciated by Americans trapped in Europe and wanted to get home safely. However, Cunard eventually decided with passenger numbers dropping that speed could be reduced for economy’s sake, but that Lusitania could still outrun any submarine. “Dead Wake” begins with the preparations for the May 1, 1915 voyage. The hustle and bustle of pier 54 is vividly described, so much so, that readers can envision themselves as crew load the baggage and passengers board the gangways to their assigned staterooms. Darting among the crowd is veteran reporter Jack Lawrence who chats with many, including the wealthy scion Alfred Vanderbilt. An ominous telegram signed “Morte” has warned Vanderbilt not to sail, but he laughs it off with Lawrence who then moves onto his next interview. Rare book dealer Charles Lauriat carries with him a rare Charles Dickens volume and has it ready just in case of evacuation, while Dwight Harris carries aboard his own lifebelt. Alta Piper receives a psychic warning at the last moment not to board the Lusitania. There is an ominous feeling of suppressed dread that lingers in the air which Larson conveys with his well-chosen cast of characters that move the story forward.However, the story is not entirely set aboard the ship, but also under the sea in the German submarine U-20, in the dark corners of the British intelligence room 40, and in the lovelorn and war leery President Wilson’s White House. It is the perfect quadrangle of intrigue that makes this a page-turner as each major character is fleshed out due to Larson’s skills as an investigative journalist. Some authors choose to just copy what others have found in archives, but Larson’s research into the backgrounds of his principle players makes the story more intimate. Preston Prichard may not have survived, but letters to his grieving family from those who knew him describe a friendly cabin mate, an agreeable table companion, and energetic games organizer. Nothing is more poignant than the women who developed crushes on him during the crossing and the sadness of his loss. A young boy named Robert Kay is traveling to see his mother’s people. Mrs. Kay is heavily pregnant as were several others. The author conveys the loneliness of Robert’s mid-voyage quarantine of measles as he wistfully looks out his porthole. A remark by Ethel Line’s stewardess reminds us that despite the card games, dances, and hearty meals all that the danger is not over yet. She tells the young woman that the ship will not go down, but up with all the munitions rumored to be aboard.The day of fate arrives, and once the Irish coast comes into view, we anticipate the inevitable torpedoing. The buildup is intense and when it finally happens, the horror of war is realized. The ship goes down in a quick 18 minutes and there is no dead space as Larson carefully paces what happens to the passengers and crew. Lifeboats filled with women and children are dropped into the sea by seamen not trained in evacuation. Water entering the ship through portholes that should have been closed in the “danger zone” hastens the ship’s descent to the bottom. Yet, despite this confusion many remained stoic and helped where they could. Readers will wince as Mrs. Kay holds her son’s hand as the ocean rushes towards them, or when Ogden Hammond tries to prevent his lifeboat from spilling everyone into the water as he vainly clutches the ropes. Two brothers named Morton are part of the crew and try until the last second to launch a lifeboat filled with people, but time has run out for the Lusitania.Hours pass as survivors wait for rescue, but for many rescue comes too late. The heroism continues as people help keep others afloat, pulling them into lifeboats and rafts and to go search for any further survivors. The despair is captured magnificently and readers will no doubt be overcome with emotion as people are landed in Queenstown and the search through morgues begins. When the book ends, we know where the people in each story are headed and we are assured that life goes on… As Larson shows, sometimes for the better, other times for the worst.People who enjoy history, human interest, suspense, etc … will consider this book a new favorite. Those familiar with the Lusitania’s story will find a nice mix of new and established passenger and crew accounts, but without the extraneous material that weighs down other books. Erik Larson proves that history is not boring. He is the right man to take us on these journeys through time and make us learn something along the way. It was a distinct pleasure to provide assistance for this book.Michael Poirier is co-author of “Into the Danger Zone: Sea Crossings of the First World War”, now available world-wide on Amazon and through the publisher, The History Press UK.

⭐A must read for WW1 history buffs. Couldn’t put it down. Written in “ real time” as it were, in May 1915, before and after.

⭐When the anniversary of the Lusitania came around in 2015, I opted to read, “: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age” by Greg King and Penny Wilson, so it is only now that I have finally got around to this book on the tragedy, by Erik Larson. My initial thoughts are that, if your interest is more in the voyage and passengers, then it would be best to read the King and Wilson book. This is a little more wide ranging, with a large section concentrating on the aftermath and how it affected the then US President, Wilson (although much of his attention seemed to be taken up by personal matters).Although it initially seemed that Lusitania was a ship that had learnt the lessons of Titanic, with passengers assured that there were lifeboats for all, this sinking again shows how size, and speed, were seen as all important in terms of safety. Although the ship had been warned that it would be in danger, when it sailed into the war zone, most passengers accepted the assurances that they could outrun submarines (they obviously didn’t) or would be given an escort by the British Navy (they weren’t). The Captain swung out lifeboats as the ship neared Ireland, and messages warned of U-boats, but circumstances meant actions taken failed to help when disaster struck. Although some passengers were nervous, again, it was seen as wiser to deny the danger, even after the ship had been hit; meaning passengers were unsure where to go, or what to do, and many were unaware of how to put on life-jackets correctly, meaning they died unnecessarily. This was especially true as the ship sank quickly and there were a large number of families and children aboard.This is a good overview of the disaster, and the aftermath, as well as the political situation during wartime and how the sinking of the Lusitania helped sway public opinion.

⭐Deeply moving. Tension builds up as submarine and Lusitania head for the Irish Sea killing area. Life onboard the U-boat and the Lusitania described wonderfully. The sinking of the vessel is made more tragic as we have come to know the passengers. Painful for me as my grandfather torpedoed in these waters. Had a chance to leave ship before his ship destroyed by U-boat forward gun. He lived on fruit floating in water for nine days before being rescued. But frostbite (loss of fingers and toes) killed him. Highly recommended book but all Erik Larson books a recommended read

⭐This must be one of the best accounts of a great sea disaster that if not immediately, eventually added to the weights in the balance that affected the course of WWI and world history. The book has some of the suspense of a thriller but is a well-researched history and has the added fascination of detailed stories of fragments of the lives of many of the survivors (as well as of some who didn’t) including some of the main protagonists such as the captain himself. All the various threads are carefully woven together in such a way as to present a narrative of a much written-about event that will take lifetimes to excel.

⭐Erik Larson is one of my favorite writers and this book is just as pleasing as his others. He is a great writer and like his other books, “Dead Wake” traces the journeys of the two main characters as they slowly come head to head. Every other chapter tracks the movements of the Lusitania or its eventual nemesis the German submarine U20, until they finally meet up in one chapter with disastrous results. The build up is quite exciting and also, of course, quite sad. It is so hard not to want to scream at the ship and yell, “Go the other way!” The tragedy of the Lusitania is that it could so easily have been avoided. It seems that it is quite possible there was some sort of conspiracy behind its demise, although Larson never comes out and says that fully.I do find surprising, however, that, although Larson tells us about life on the Lusitania through many of its passengers, he focuses only on first and second class ones. He doesn’t speak at all about anyone in third class. And even amongst the first and second class, he gives us glimpses of only a few. I think it would have added so much if he had included even more personal stories, giving us an even richer and deeper understanding of the people involved and the lives lost on that day. Some of the most famous ones he virtually ignores. Also, so many of the passengers were just children. I would have like to know more about them. The human side of this story is so compelling.All in all, though, it is quite a good read. Definitely worth buying and it won’t take you long to go through it.

⭐Gripping stuff! Larson has clearly done an awful lot of research. He takes us from the quayside in Manhattan where passengers are complacently boarding Cunard’s flagship, many blithely unaware that the German Embassy has posted a warning to merchant shipping in that morning’s papers and misguided in the belief that the Royal Navy will protect her, to the White House, where Woodrow Wilson is determined to stay out of the war in Europe and, frankly, is more interested in the potential second Mrs Wilson, to Machiavellian goings on in the Admiralty in London, to the evil of the German Empire.We all know what happened to the Lusitania. But that doesn’t make the story – and Larson’s account – any less edge-of-seat. The subject and the author certainly stirs the passions! It’s a bit like watching a disaster movie, where one knows what happens, but still can’t help willing that the end will somehow be different. And there’s an incredulity to it, as well. Surely Kaiser Bill and his cronies knew that by sinking a ship with so many US citizens on board would encourage the States to enter the war (though it wasn’t quick in doing so, even then)? The commander of U-20 patrols the waters around the British Isles sinking any unfortunate vessel that came into his sights, regardless of the neutrality of many. The German Empire seemed to be hellbent on the destruction of anything and everything (arguably, even itself).There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania, obviously. How could the Germans be so cruel and heartless to sink a merchant ship with nearly two-thousand innocent civilians on board? Larson reels of the figures: ‘Of the Lusitania’s 1,959 passengers and crew, only 764 survived; the total of deaths was 1,195. The three German stowaways brought the total to 1,198. Of 33 infants aboard, only 6 survived. Over 600 passengers were never found. Among the dead were 123 Americans.’But was the British Admiralty culpable? Why didn’t navy ships escort the Lusitania through the war zone? Why did one torpedo sink a ship as big as her (although the authorities persisted in claiming it was two)? Why did it only take eighteen minutes for the liner to sink? And why had the King previously asked if America would enter the war if the Lusitania was lost? In other words, was the Lusitania sacrificed to provoke the US to join the Allies?Larson’s account is compelling and stirs a lot of passions. That the U-boat crew celebrated the sinking and the German people were jubilant disgusts me. His wife later claimed that the U-boat commander was a broken man after he realised what he has done, but his later actions bely that. I am against the death penalty, but I was pleased when I read that his later command was sunk and he was lost. Equally, I am disgusted that the Admirality may have sacrificed the Lusitania and those on board for the war effort. Of course, it’s all conjecture and unlikely that we will ever know the truth, but the conspiracy theories will continue. And the ‘what ifs’ are equally maddening: What if the Lusitania’s departure from New York hadn’t been delayed? What if she hadn’t stopped for two hours to pick up passengers from another ship commandeered by the Admiralty? What if she had been travelling at full speed, rather than slower to save coal? What if the fog hadn’t lifted? Indeed, the Lusitania’s sister ship, Mauretania, narrowly avoided a U-boat attack herself. So much was down to chance.In other words, a ripping yarn.

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