A Summary and Critique of Erik Larson's Dead Wake ― The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

This is not the actual Erik Larson's Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania. The primary objective of this book is to bring a review, insightful discussion and critique of Erik Larson'sDead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania to readers everywhere.

RMS Titanic, a British passenger liner, was the largest ship of its day. It wasconsidered to be unsinkable until it struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912. Three years later, on May 1, 1915, the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania left Pier 54 on the Hudson River in Manhattan for what was to be her last voyage. Her passengers and crew could not know that they were about to repeat the fate of theTitanic. Only this time it was a man-made tragedy in which 1,198 people, including 123 Americans, lost their lives. It was a German submarine that sankLusitania off the southern coast of Ireland, making an impact on the course of World War I.

Erik Larson‘s book, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, masterfully revives and brings to the reader the story of the last days of theLusitania, her passengers and crew.

This book, A Summary and Critique ofErik Larson’s Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, includes an unofficial summary and analysis of the key ideas and facts in Larson’s book, a critique of the principal messages in the book and additional information related to Lusitania and the political events that involved her so disastrously.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction and Overview of Dead Wake

Part I. A Summary and Analysis of the Key Ideas and Facts in Dead Wake

1. The Lusitania

Analysis and Comments

2. A Tale of Two Captains

Analysis and Comments

3. The Politics Behind the Tragedy of the Lusitania

Analysis and Comments

Part II. A Critique of the Principal Messages in Dead Wake

Conclusion

References