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

Title: Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Author: Erik Larson
Narrator: Scott Brick
Publication: Random House, audiobook, 2015
Genre: History

Description: The Lusitania was a British-owned luxury ocean liner that departed from New York for Liverpool on May 1, 1915, carrying nearly 2000 individuals, of whom 1,265 were passengers. The war in Europe was almost a year old but while America had stayed neutral, Germany had begun attacking not only British vessels but also those flying flags of neutral countries, contrary to the traditional gentlemanly rules of naval warfare. On the day the Lusitania sailed, the German Embassy in Washington had actually placed an ad in New York newspapers warning that travelers sailing on ships flying the flag of Great Britain or any of her allies did so at their own risk. Most passengers laughed this off, if they had seen it. German submarines had been terrorizing vessels in the North Atlantic but there was a belief the Lusitania was fast enough and sufficiently immense to withstand a mere submarine. For the Germans, the Lusitania represented all they envied about British maritime prowess, so its sinking by German U-boat 20 was an achievement that would be celebrated..

My Impression: The Radcliffe Reading Group loved Larson’s recent book about WWII, The Splendid and the Vile, so when we were figuring out what to read in February, I suggested several possibilities, and Dead Wake was chosen. Dead Wake was another compelling work of narrative nonfiction, which I highly recommend. Larson does an incredible job describing all the elements which contributed to the disastrous sinking of the Lusitania, including but not limited to new, inexperienced crew; the ship’s deliberately slower than expected speed to preserve fuel; carelessness by passengers and crew about keeping port holes closed – this accelerated the flooding of the ship; failure to drill the passengers on life belts and life boats; poor communication from the British Admiralty, which was supposed to send an escort, and its subsequent decision to recall the Juno, a fast ship which likely would have been able to rescue many passengers – the fear was that the submarine might still be in the area.

What makes the book so effective is the way Larson weaves in the stories about the passengers and crew, bringing them all to life. Naturally, one of my favorites was Charles Lauriat, a prominent member of the Boston bookselling family, who traveled often to London. On this trip he was bringing two valuable items with him: a copy of A Christmas Carol by Dickens with the author’s handwritten notes and a book of original drawings by William Makepeace Thackeray. “Don’t do it!” I begged him, listening as I drove to work. “They’ll end up at the bottom of the ocean!” It was clear that Lauriat had aroused particular interest in Larson and I wondered how he had learned so much about him. Well, like the sagacious bookseller he was, Lauriat had written his own book in 1915 after the disaster, The Lusitania's Last Voyage: Being a Narrative of the Torpedoing and Sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German Submarine off the Irish Coast (an “instant book,” as we used to call them when I worked in publishing). It was reprinted in 2016, probably as a result of this book’s success, so should not be difficult to find. He is buried at Mt. Auburn Cemetery not far away.  You know I will pay my respects when the weather improves.

As mentioned several days ago, I was already interested in the Lusitania because Phoebe Sprague is a passenger on its last voyage in The Light Heart. Because I know that book practically by heart, I particularly enjoyed every aspect in which Thane’s research was backed up by Larson, who had the benefit of an additional 60+ years of research, not to mention modern technology. I know from Thane not only the importance of securing one’s life vest but the need to get as far away from the ship as possible, once in the water, to avoid debris. 

I had actually picked up a copy of the audiobook during a trip to North Carolina but hadn’t had occasion to listen to it: the narration by Scott Brick, known also to mystery fans, added to my reading/listening pleasure as his voice is eloquent and slightly ironic. Some of my book group felt there was too much about Woodrow Wilson’s broken heart: I found that interesting but was exasperated he was not concentrating on world affairs! It is also fascinating there is a conspiracy theory that the British Admiralty allowed the Lusitania sink so as to get America into the war, just as some say FDR knew about Pearl Harbor in advance.

This fulfills my “News” category for Book Bingo.  The sinking of the Lusitania was news that swept the world.

Source: Library