Questions About Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (22)

How many of you feel that there's too much "miscellaneous" trivia, i.e, names of all the passengers and descriptions of their children. I do and although this is a 5* book, it gets boggy. Larson's an outstanding author so who am I to gripe? Tom

Deb History is trivia. The little details are what remind us that real people lived and breathed and experienced the story we are being told. The trivia o…moreHistory is trivia. The little details are what remind us that real people lived and breathed and experienced the story we are being told. The trivia of human lives is what makes history, for me, worth reading.(less)

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Wow i absolutely loved 'In the Garden of Beasts'! Is 'Dead Wake' written in a similar style/from a similar perspective? Or is it taking a different Tack (excuse my awful pun!)? Thanks, Rudy

Marilee Yes… I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely enthralling. Larson has a rare talent for researching historical facts, digesting them a…moreYes… I'm about a third of the way through and it's absolutely enthralling. Larson has a rare talent for researching historical facts, digesting them and then constructing a narrative that reads like a novel. He's focused on key characters, using various sources to bring them to life… and suspense is building, even though we history buffs know the basic facts… it's playing out in suspenseful fashion as the Lusitania prepares to sail from New York to the UK on May 1915. Not at all one sided, we are also introduced to the German U boat service and it's men. (less)

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Is this the same ship that was mentioned in The Imitation Game (movie)?

Walt Conner If you are referring to the ship that they could have saved but didn't then the answer is no. The Lusitania was sunk during World War I while The Imit…moreIf you are referring to the ship that they could have saved but didn't then the answer is no. The Lusitania was sunk during World War I while The Imitation Game takes place during World War II (about 30 years later).(less)

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Is this book reputable? In other words, I know Larson is an author/journalist and not, this is not a remark upon him or his character, a historian. Can anyone vouch for the historical authenticity of this book?

Connie Schuchard Larson is known to do extensive research before writing his book. He reads letters and diaries and gets access to material others might not have seen …moreLarson is known to do extensive research before writing his book. He reads letters and diaries and gets access to material others might not have seen before. I can't remember but it seems to me that there was a bibliography of materials he used for his research at the end of the book. I also saw several interviews with him and a book talk on CSpan. I am a retired librarian and I was impressed with his research. He doesn't actually say that the British could have prevented the tragedy but he presents the facts and allows one to draw their own conclusion. He uses much primary source material such as diaries and letters and first hand accounts. To decide how much of what Larson wrote is true, you should go to your library and the Internet and start reading accounts of the sinking at the time it was sunk. That information is available in libraries and some of it might even be on the Internet. You could also read accounts of the sinking in other books written about this incident. What Larson does that other writers often do not do is go into great detail about the passengers, their lives before the trip, their reason for making the trip, the captain's history, the history and personality of the submarine captain etc. His books, to me, read like Fiction although I know that they are truly non Fiction. I am sure his books are read by other historians and by reviewers of historical works. To my knowledge, no one has been critical of his facts. Many were quick to point out some plagairism in other historical works so I am sure if they were suspicious of poor or sloppy research or felt he had invented some of the things that happened in the book, they would be quick to point that out to the media.(less)

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The sinking was nearly 100 years ago yet still a controversy still exists on whether it was war crime . How does an author ensure archival material on both sides ie german versus Anglo-American interests are re-examined fairly and extensively to give an fresh and unbiased view?

Nobody Important The British government recently published a request to scuba divers not to dive on the wreck of the Lusitania because of the dangers posed by unexplod…moreThe British government recently published a request to scuba divers not to dive on the wreck of the Lusitania because of the dangers posed by unexploded munitions that made up the cargo on the sunken vessel. There are literally thousands of bullets and shells decaying in and around the shipwreck.(less)

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