Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by, Erik Larson narrated by, Scott Brick

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by, Erik Larson narrated by, Scott Brick

This book was fascinating and kept me interested all the way through. It is about so much more than just the Lusitania it’s also about seafaring during a time war. It also gives a glimpse into who some of the victims were, the key players President Wilson being one I found out things I didn’t know about him, a young Winston Churchill gets a bit of a storyline to that I found interesting. And the first edition of A Christmas Carol that was also a victim was very sad too.

We all know the story of the Titanic, I’ve read countless books and seen so many documentaries and movies about it but I never knew much about the Lusitania, which is why I wanted to read this book. I found it interesting that the Germans didn’t care if it was a military boat or civilians because they could be bringing supplies so let’s torpedo them all, and that President Wilson said as long as no Americans are on the ships they are shooting down it’s fine, which is quite a different attitude than our government has today. And the British knew that they weren’t shooting at American boats so when the boats got close to England they would fly an American flag, then when the Germans figured that out it was a shoot at everything mentality.

The sad part of the Lusitania being shot down was there were so many children onboard, and that there were destroyers in the area, who I feel should have been escorting and protecting the Lusitania but because of an order to not engage with the subs they knew were there, left these people stranded and I believe more could have been saved had they intervened sooner.

I found this book completely fascinating and it was hard to stop listening, I found all the stories about what seafaring was like in this area during this time period really interesting, as I knew nothing of any of it.

Erik Larson is a great writer I really enjoy his writing style and I liked how he humanized all sides in this conflict.

Scott Brick’s narration was of course wonderful, I thought his male and female voices were well done and he really brought this story to life.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone curious about history or seafaring; also if you like to read books about the Titanic, you should read this book.

4 ½ Stars

I won this book from Tekreads