Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Popular history at its finest. Erik Larson provides a rich, detailed narrative of the Lusitania’s sinking by U-20 off the coat of Ireland in May 1915. Larson does well at showing how the sinking of the Lusitania was part of what pushed Woodrow Wilson gradually toward asking Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, but only in a longterm sense. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, Wilson—and many Americans—erred on the side of restraint and caution, hoping still to avoid a war with Germany that would cost countless lives.

Larson also points toward an issue with wartime intelligence. The British cracked the German cyphers for its wireless communications with submarines early in the war. These messages were decrypted in the mysterious “Room 40.” However, this intelligence collection—and the fact that the British possessed Germany code books—had to remain a secret to prevent the Germans from retooling their cyphers during the war. The rationale was that action based on this intelligence could only be taken if the payoff was great enough to warrant betraying the existence of “Room 40.” This begs the question: “Room 40” had enough intelligence during the Lusitania’s voyage to prevent the disaster. Based on Larson’s research the ability for the Admiralty to redirect the Lusitania—or take countless other actions—based on its decryption of communications between U-20 and the German high command is incontrovertible. Surely, preventing the death of more than 1,100 civilians aboard an ocean liner was cause for acting on intelligence gathered in “Room 40.”

The other aspect that I enjoyed about this book was Larson’s attention to CptLt. Schwieger, who commanded U-20, during this time frame. One thing Larson illuminated was the sheer callousness of German submarine officers. The sinking of the Lusitania was treated with complete casualness by the German submarine commander, despite the later protestations of his fiancé who sought to defend Schwieger’s honor posthumously by claiming he was a “broken man” as a result of killing so many civilians.

This is a great book. Highly recommended.

Erik Larson makes history come alive once again. I'd known nothing about this subject, except having the misconception that the sinking of the Lusitania had immediately forced the US into WWI.

One would think that when reviewing a history book, there would be no risk of spoilers, and yet--there are some surprising and shocking facts here that I will not give away. Larson's research is
intense and encompassing, and he packages and delivers this fascinating account in a very readable form.

Larson breathes life into the passengers of this ill-fated voyage through survivor memories and correspondence, the ways people packed, what they brought, and why they were traveling. It's an interesting look at life as it was one hundred years ago. We also get a peek into President Woodrow Wilson's life and the private, emotional challenges he had to navigate at this time.

At the end of the narrative, there are about one hundred pages of notes that are fascinating, as well. The best compliment I can pay Erik Larson is that I feel compelled to look up more about the Lusitania. He provided just the right amount of information to get many people interested in further reading.

Bravo!

I'd read "Devil in the White City," but had no idea Erik Larson had written so many other works of non-fiction until I read a review of "Dead Wake." This is every bit as good, perhaps better. Larson has done the sort of extensive research that has allowed him to turn real people involved in this story into human characters that resonate with the reader: For example, the daughter of a then-famous psychic who had booked a ticket on the Lusitania but was kept awake all night by voices telling her that if she got on board, she would never get off. She never cancelled her ticket, but packed and re-packed her bags in indecision all morning, until the ship finally sailed without her. Or the woman with two children in different areas of the ship when the torpedo hit, forced to choose which one to save. Larson puts these human stories in the context of the significant place in history that the Lusitania now occupies, and addresses open questions about whether the ship was left intentionally vulnerable by the British navy, in hopes that an attack on it would draw the U.S. into the war. A gripping and well-written story that I would recommend even to readers who don't typically pick up historical non-fiction.