A sound narrative that goes above and below a sea of secrets in May 1915 The first time I really heard the name LUSITANIA was several years ago when I was watching Antiques Roadshow and in that episode an older gentleman had a coin he found in his late aunt's attic. It turned out to be a Sinking of the Lusitania Commemorative medal and after listening to the expert explain a little about the tragedy, I wanted to discover more but at the time I could only locate repeat cursory information that left me with the disappointed impression that was all there was to learn about the subject. Then last year the name of the ship resurfaced in quite a few books I was reading about World War I and with my curiosity of this topic rekindled I purchased a couple titles but nothing caught my attention like the description for Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. Encompassing not only an informative account of the maritime disaster but with a unique styling that I kept receiving recommendations about; I decided to take a chance. So I pre-ordered this title, waited patiently for today and eagerly downloaded this as soon as it was available in the early hours this morning. I have just finished the final page and I can't recommend this book enough because that was fantastic. I was told that Mr. Larson was the master of narrative suspense and this was clearly evident to this reader as he took me on an entertaining and informative voyage onto the luxurious Lusitania, down the periscope of the infamous U-20, into the top secret Room 40 in London, into halls of the White House and down the war trenches across Europe. It became hard to put this read down and even though I knew from history what was to follow the way the book is set up you feel every roll of the waves, the impending danger, the dampness of the fog and crushing grief that thousands must have felt in the face of such horrible events. It may become very hard for some readers not to shed a tear about the vivid passages of small children being laid to rest in a final embrace with their mothers. Or feel a shiver reading the haunting account of the last known footage of the Lusitania and its passengers waving goodbye to their loved ones or not holding your breath when clouds of deadly chlorine gas are released coming ever closer to young men hunched in the muddy trenches. I lost count of the hidden gems of trivia and the times I forgot this was history and not some very creative imagination at work, no this actually happened. I was amazed how much the Titanic (one of my favorite subjects to learn and read about) was mentioned in this book and it was strangely fascinating how passengers and crew of the Lusitania and Titanic seemed knotted together by many eerie coincidences. I also appreciated that Mr. Larson just states the facts and doesn't step onto that sometimes uncomfortable box and break the reader's immersion by injecting personal opinions into the narrative or going on some wild tangent. He lets his reader's assemble from the historic evidence what they will by presenting the bare facts in a easy accessible fashion. Which is perfect when it comes to the story of the Lusitania and final years of World War I, a lot of controversy, mystery and theories still shadow the wake of Lusitania and in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of Lusitania every one of those are presented to reader and it is up to them to answer those lingering questions; which would make a very interesting hour at a book club discussion. Overall, this was gripping read that goes beyond those last tragic 18 minutes in May 1915 and this reader can't wait to see what the next work will be about; perhaps a certain series of intriguing events hinted at the end of this book that will be reaching a 100th anniversary in 2018? I can only hope. -purchased and read on kindle -EGP/March 2015 Comments are closed.
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