Erik Larson is one of the masters of narrative non-fiction,
and he again proves it in Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.
The book is about the fatal last crossing of the Lusitania the largest passenger
steamship of its time, and its sinking off the coast of Ireland. It gives us a
look into the wealthy class that could afford a luxury cruise during war time.
Tells us stories of the passengers, some famous and some not, and lets us
sail on the Lusitania with them without the seasickness. The most interesting
story being told is the German submarine campaign of the first world war and of
the captain of Unterseeboot-20 that sunk the Lusitania, Captain Walther
Schweiger. Captain Schweiger, as were the captains of the U-boat fleet, was
directed to sink as much tonnage as possible, whether military or civilian. Civilian lives were of no consequence. The
previous restrictions of warfare that protected civilian ships no longer
applied to the war zone that Germany placed around Great Britain, Germany was
intent on sinking any vessel that was not German. Tracking Captain Schweiger
was a clandestine British intelligence unit, Room 40, a group that came into
possession of the German code book, and monitored radio transmissions of U-20 and those U-boats within range. Room 40 had been tracking Schweiger's U-20
and knew when it entered the waters off the coast of Ireland, and knew the Lusitania
would be sailing through the same channel and would be in jeopardy of attack. America
was not involved in the War at this time and to attack a passenger steamship
that was on route from American to London that carried many American citizens,
many of which were children and babies, was thought to be an invitation to join the
war. Perhaps British intelligence were hoping such an attack would persuade
President Woodrow Wilson to declare war, or perhaps it was an egregious
oversight, but the Lusitania's Captain Turner was never notified of an enemy
submarine in its path nor was he given directions on evading such an attack.
This story is a sad tale, one that could have been avoided but for the lack of
the flow of information and oversight. The information was there, the jeopardy
of attack was known, but the Lusitania was sunk and lives were lost, many lives
were lost. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing
of the Lusitania was an intriguing read, one I recommend.
This blog will introduce you to books I love, books that will entertain you, inform you and keep you turning the pages to finish before turning out the lights. I am talking about books that you can see, feel, smell and hear the paper pages turning. Books that have kept us company on some of our worst days and on all of our best. So sit back, put your feet up and prepare to add to your reading list
Friday, July 3, 2015
Q&A A Day: A 5 Year Journal
If you keep a journal or if you have always wanted to keep a journal but did not know how to start this is the perfect book for you. This is a different type of journal, each day has a question for you to ponder and write about, you can answer the question or let it take you in a different direction. Also, it is a 5 year journal so that each day has 5 spaces for your thoughts over the years, and allows you to see what you were thinking each previous year. I love it and look forward the next day to write something and to the next year of the first day I wrote in this journal. It makes a perfect gift, I have already purchased one for my friends birthday.
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