4.01.2015

Dead Wake: a review

Recently I received a free copy of Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania to read and review. I was thrilled to read another book by Erik Larson; ever since reading Devil in the White City, I have devoured everything he has written. Dead Wake, happily, did not disappoint! Larson clearly did painstaking research and it shows; from the contents of Lusitania passengers' luggage and their outfits to the thoughts of the submarine captain, the story comes alive in the details. We meet individual passengers, hear their backstory and then must wait to see who lives and who dies. As Larson takes you from the doomed ship to the hunting submarine, it is easy to get lost in the thriller and start to hope for a different outcome for the passengers of the Lusitania. In the end though, the story comes full circle as we read the aftermath of the sinking, on a personal and global scale.This book did what good historical narratives ought to do, it made me want to learn more about World War I and the events surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania. If you want to learn more about the sinking of the Lusitania than the few facts you learned long ago in History 101, pick up Dead Wake- you won't be able to put it down, even with the foregone conclusion ahead of you.