Dead Wake: the Last Crossing of the Lusitania Eric Larson, read by Scott Brick ★★★★.5

[Karin]

4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. ☊

Well, I liked this book, in part because of the narration on the audiobook. Told from the perspective of the hunter and the hunted with other historical figures and events added, I enjoyed this immensely and learned some things to book.

Were there problems with this book? Of course; history books are notoriously biased, each and every one of them, but there was a great deal of information here, and one of the things I enjoyed was now Larson included accounts of various passengers, largely gleaned from letters and writings that made it out of the wreck or were written by survivors. As for the conspiracy concerns that some criticize, I really thought he left it rather open but gave his opinion that he thought there was a good chance this sinking could have been prevented. Is he correct? No one living really knows, but I thought it rather interesting, and this does NOT mean there was a conspiracy, that both the British Navy and some of the survivors, in separate hearings, tried to put entire blame for the German U-boat torpedoing the ship onto the Captain. Yes, you got it, they said the Cunard captain's negligence allowed an act of war to happen, and since it's no secret, three different hearings found him completely innocent.

I was rather disappointed with President Wilson many times, so depressed for a while, so wrapped up in his grieving and then his new love, so busy giving Germany polite letters to stop killing American passengers, but of course I come from Canada where my bias has already been to wonder what took the US so long to join the war in the first place given how the Germans were torpedoing merchant and passenger vessels right, left and centre. I was also less than impressed by some of the British policies during the war, and, naturally, found it egregious that the Germans felt it was okay to kill so many civilians, but that's not unique to the Germans in WW I and has happened all over the world in many wars over the millennia.

This is the first book I've ever read/listened to by Erik Larson, and since apparently this is not his best, I may just listen to another, and hope that Scott Brick narrates it as well, or someone just as good.

[Anita]

great review! I still hope to read this at some point. Just need the right tag.

[Ladyslott]

Karin wrote: "4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. ☊

Well, I liked this book, in part because of the narration on the audiobook. Told from the perspective of the hunter and the hunted with other historical figures and e..."

I liked this book, although for some reason I felt detached from some of the storylines. But I was fascinated by the story of the uboats, as evil as their mission was it was interesting to understand how they operated.

Larson is one of my favorite nonfiction authors; my favorites by him would be The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America and In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin as well as Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

[LibraryCin]

hmmm, given the narrator, I think I'll be better off to read it.

[Joi]

Yay! Bought this on a good deal a little while back, and it's been sitting on me and the bfs tbr list. Glad to see such a positive review :)

[Barbara M]

I listened to this one and The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, both read by Scott Brick. I like him as a narrator. The books were great, I will probably read more Larson and I'm not a big non-fiction reader.

[Karin]

LibraryCin wrote: "hmmm, given the narrator, I think I'll be better off to read it."

You don't like that narrator? I liked him reading this book better than I liked how he read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which I didn't rate as highly.

[Karin]

Barbara wrote: "I listened to this one and The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, both read by Scott Brick. I like him as a narrator. The books were ..."

Good to know!

[LibraryCin]

Karin wrote: "You don't like that narrator? I liked him reading this book better than I liked how he read [book:The Storied L..."

No, the two books I've listened to that I know he narrated (one quite recently), neither could hold my attention: Master and Commander and I, Robot. I Robot was better, but it still wasn't enough. I like his voice, but my mind wanders.

[Karin]

LibraryCin wrote: "Karin wrote: "You don't like that narrator? I liked him reading this book better than I liked how he read [book:The Storied L..."

No, the two books I've listened to that I know he narrated (one qu..."

Oh, well, I did NOT like I, Robot in print! This book is better, but if your mind wanders just because of his voice, read this one in print, then.