"—USA Today"[Larson] vividly captures the disaster and the ship's microcosm, in which the second class seems more appealing than the first. The tragedy of the Lusitania is that it could so easily have been avoided. I decided to try. To his credit, he makes the task look easy. This filled in those gaps... this one is pretty damned good.
What makes the story, is that Larson takes a few main characters--the "Lusitania"'s Captain William Thomas Turner, President Woodrow Wilson, U-boat Captain Walther Schweiger, Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat, architect Theodate Pope, and a few minor ones--and weaves them together towards the inevitable and tragic conclusion. Larson is an exceptionally skilled storyteller, and his tick-tock narrative, which cuts between the "Lusitania," U-20 and the political powers behind them, is pitch-perfect." A story full of ironies and 'what-ifs,' Dead Wake is a tour de force of narrative history. Broadway Books; Reprint Edition (March 22, 2016).
"—Columbus Dispatch"In the hands of a lesser craftsman, the fascinating story of the last crossing of the Lusitania might risk being bogged down by dull character portraits, painstaking technical analyses of submarine tactics or the minutiae of WWI-era global politics. The Onion A/V Club" "An intriguing, entirely engrossing investigation into a legendary disaster." A very well researched accounting of the attack and sinking. "—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel"Larson breathes life into narrative history like few writers working today.
—Summit Daily, A "Washington Post "Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015A "St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Best Book of 2015A "Miami Herald" Favorite Book of 2015BookTrib's Best Narrative Nonfiction Book of 2015#1 History & Biography Book in the 2015 Goodreads Choice AwardsA"LibraryReads"Top Ten Book of 2015 A"Library Journal"Top Ten Book of 2015 A"Kirkus"Best Book of 2015 An"Indigo"Best Book of 2015 "Larson is one of the modern masters of popular narrative nonfiction...a resourceful reporter and a subtle stylist who understands the tricky art of Edward Scissorhands-ing narrative strands into a pleasing story...An entertaining book about a great subject, and it will do much to make this seismic event resonate for new generations of readers." But these financial artifacts and hundreds of other bits of personal information have become routine commodities in the data bazaar, blithely collected and traded by marketers for the supposed good of the American consumer.”, “Every organization seems to have a list. As the two vessels stumble upon each other, the story almost takes on the narrative pulse of "Jaws "the sinking was impossible and inevitable at the same time.
"—Arkansas Democratic Gazette "We all know how the story ends, but Larson still makes you want to turn the pages, and turn them quickly. The fact that this is coming through a page-turner history book, where all the figures and details reveal an impeccable eye and thorough research, is just one of the odd pleasures of Larson's writing.
Larson makes it feel as immediate and contingent as the present day. He draws upon a wealth of sources for his subject – telegrams, wireless messages, survivor depositions, secret intelligence ledgers, a submarine captain’s war log, love letters, admiralty and university archives, even morgue photos of Lusitania victims… Filled with revealing political, military and social information, Larson’s engrossing Dead Wake is, at its heart, a benediction for the 1,198 souls lost at sea.”—Tampa Bay Times"Larson, an authority on nonfiction accounts, expounds on our primary education, putting faces to the disaster and crafting an intimate portrait in Dead Wake.
in other ways we cling stubbornly to outmoded beliefs which ultimately do us great harm.
Erik has 2 jobs listed on their profile.
Larson tells the story of the last voyage of the Lusitania, its passengers and crew, and the wider political situation that gave rise to the circumstances in which the ship was left unprotected in waters in which it was known U-boats were operating.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.