dead wake the last crossing of the lusitania summary

It is a story that many of us think we know but don't, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small-hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more-all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger's U-boat, but told no one. Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. He knew, moreover, that his ship-the fastest then in service-could outrun any threat. But the Lusitania was one of the era's great transatlantic 'Greyhounds' and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, and for months, its U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic.

His Books have been published in fourteen countries.ĪBOUT THE NEW BOOK: On May 1, 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants.

The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial holds the most diverse collection of WWI artifacts in the world and inspires thought, dialogue, and learning to make the experiences of the World War I era meaningful and relevant for present and future generations.ĪBOUT THE AUTHOR: Erik Larson is the Author of four National Bestsellers: In the Garden of Beasts, Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac's Storm, which have collectively sold more than 5.5 million copies. This Event is Co-Sponsored by Rainy Day Books & National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. EVENT OVERVIEW: Erik Larson will discuss his new book Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.

Dead wake the last crossing of the lusitania summary