Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania in Goodjer Recommends

Mar 12, 2019 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: history, non-fiction, 2019-challenge

I enjoyed Dead Wake, but not as much as Devil in the White City or In the Garden of Beasts.

Several years back, I read both those books, and both were fantastic. For those not familiar with Larson, he writes thoroughly-sourced historical works that read like novels, with point-of-view characters, story arcs, and all. This is no dry history! Devil in the White City is a split account of the the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago; half focuses on Daniel Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair; t I enjoyed Dead Wake, but not as much as Devil in the White City or In the Garden of Beasts.

Several years back, I read both those books, and both were fantastic. For those not familiar with Larson, he writes thoroughly-sourced historical works that read like novels, with point-of-view characters, story arcs, and all. This is no dry history! Devil in the White City is a split account of the the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago; half focuses on Daniel Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair; the other half focuses on H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who built a death trap of a hotel, where he lured his victims. The two men did not meet, but together, their stories told a tale of social transformation at the end of the 19th century. In the Garden of Beasts is about America's ambassador to Nazi Germany in 1933, and it was fascinating to watch Germany's descent into fascism from the perspective of Americans who lived there.

Dead Wake is told in a similar style. The narrative follows Turner, the ship's captain; a handful of passengers who (spoilers) either survived the crash or left enough information to be sourced; the commander of the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; a group of British code-breakers that tracked submarines (and who failed to share information that would have prevented the catastrophe); and President Wilson. And here, you can probably see my first complaint: there are two many points of view. The book lacked the narrative flow of Larson's earlier works, though I'll admit the numerous passenger accounts provide a great perspective on life in the early 20th century and the experience of traveling on such an enormous passenger ship.

I also found that segments on President Wilson added little to the story. In an epilogue, Larson admitted that before starting his research, he shared the wide misimpression that the sinking of the Lusitania brought the U.S. into the war. So did I. But that's not what happened: after the ship sank, Wilson would send Germany a series of strongly worded letters, accomplishing nothing, and the U.S. did not actually enter the war until about two years after the Lusitania sank. In fact, an unrelated incident (the Zimmerman telegram) prompted us to declare war. Which led me to wonder: why include President Wilson in this book at all? Don't get me wrong, the chapters featuring him were interesting: a recent widower, he suffered a profound depression that made it difficult to function, and then found love. That account was masterfully written, but in the end contributed practically nothing to the book's subject. ...more

Like · see review