Dead Wake, the Last Crossing of the Lusitania, Erik Larson (3.5)
While I enjoyed this book, my third Larson non-fiction
book, I found it to be a little thinner, content-wise, than the other two. I
was intrigued by his lead-up to the sinking and the broader scope of the event
in history – particularly that it occurred 2 years before the US entered WWI,
as opposed to being the direct impetus to our entrance. I was a little reticent
to read the sinking scenes (too much memory of the movie, ‘Titanic’?), but was
appreciative of Mr. Larson’s delicate handling of those scenes. Overall the
book was a good historical summary of the situation leading up to the event in
the US, the UK and Germany; the event itself; and briefly, the aftermath. The saddest
surprise of the book was how easily the sinking could have been avoided. I
would have liked more depth and/or opinion about whether the Brits knowingly were
non-proactive in their protection of the ship. The author mentions that
high-ranking officials believed it would drive the US into the war – were their
comments reflective of policy or after-the fact observances?
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