Dead Wake by Erik Larson

This is the third book I have read by Erik Larson. I love nonfiction books that read like fiction books. This one really doesn't fit that category, in my opinion, but I still liked it a lot. The first half of the book we learn a lot about U-boats and ships and a bit about World War I - the Germans, the English, the Russians, and of course America under President Wilson - who very obviously does not want to join the war. I actually love reading books about war - and the people involved in the war; what they are fighting for or against; the human element. I found myself impatient for the Lusitania to sink! Since I did not have any prior knowledge of how fast the ship sunk or how many people died, I just wanted to know the details. Once they came, I couldn't put the book down. It was devastating. As Erik Larson was describing the 18 minutes that it took the ship to sink, the people jumping into the ocean without their life jackets on - or on incorrectly, the lifeboats that were unusable, the half-filled lifeboats, the dead people floating amongst the ship debris in cold water.....I could picture it all because it was exactly way the sinking of the Titanic was depicted in the movie. The water wasn't quite as cold - but obviously too cold for survival for many people.

At the end, when the author commented on the MANY things that could have occurred to prevent or avert this disaster, it was heartbreaking. Talk about a bad luck chain of events. Just one difference in timing, in the weather, in the communication, in the calculations, and the Lusitania may have never sunk at all! And I was stunned that the Admiralty knew so much more than they told Captain Turner, and yet they tried to blame him for the entire thing. Disgusting. I understand why they had to be careful not to expose Room 40, but honestly, it did seem like a conspiracy to get American to join the war against the Germans. Why didn't they send ONE destroyer to accompany the Lusitania?? Every other ship was escorted. Why not the Lusitania? It just doesn't make sense. I was happy that Schwieger only lived a little more than two years after he sank the Lusitania. Karma is a bitch.

"Getting to know" some of the passengers made the deaths much more personable. I felt incredibly sad finding out who died. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the people the author talked about, like Charles Lauriat who carried such valuable and meaningful things (the Thackeray drawings and the Dickens Christmas Carol), but after he lost everything, he sent his wife a telegram saying that he had saved the baby's pictures and that they were his mascot. How awesome was that?!

One thing that I found incredibly interesting that I didn't know previously: Captain von Trapp, of The Sound of Music fame, was an Austrian U-boat commander! Who knew? Obviously I knew he was in the Austrian military in World War II, but they really don't go into his military history in the movie.

Now I would like to read Thunderstruck and Isaac's Storm - and any other future book by this author.

Wendy's Rating: ****