A 15-minute Summary & Analysis of Erik Larson's Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Instaread

by Ethan Thomas

Dead Wake tells the story of one of the greatest and most memorable cruise ships in history aside from the Titanic, its Cunard rival Lusitania.The ship was called “magnificent”, consuming as much as one hundred forty tons of coal every day even if it just stands still on the dock, and standing seven stories tall from dock to bridge. She was considered by engineers and shipbuilders as one of the finest examples of man’s ingenuity and creativity.In addition, out of all the ships that were converted for use in the war, the Lusitania was the only one that was exempted and continued on as a cruise ship. However, its job of carrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean was not the thing that made her famous today.Read more....Download your copy today!Available on PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. 2015 All Rights Reserved by Unlimited Press Works, LLC

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Paperback

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a summary of the book, NOT the book itself!! I thought it might be handy to have to keep characters and details straight. The grammar was so bad that I had to put it down. Fingernails on a chalkboard bad!

[E Ehrenfeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary version

This book gives the facts but is not all that well crafted Seemingly random facts included without adding to flow or understanding. Makes me wonder if the unabridged version is similar in style. Don’t think I’ll spend the time to find out.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of detail about many different people that survived or didn’t.

[Will Duban · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and pretty fast paced.

[Fred Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling reading.

[Edward Canade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Enthralling, lots of personnel details. Author good with characterization, intimate. Get to see multiple points of view of Captain Turner, his passengers, German U-Boat 20 captain Schweiger with quotes from his logs and the British secret counterintelligence, "what did they know and when did they know." (They knew it all did nothing.) President Wilson had his wife's death devastate him with depression and then his surprise falling in love with Edith Boiling Galt.

Heavily indexed and footnoted in the back, makes it easy to find what detail you might want to find to reference.

[Mary Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great insight to the time period of WWI. Learned a lot about the UBoat development, characters on the Lusitania, President Wilson and how the US was slow, very slow to enter the war. I had always learned that the sinking of the Lusitania was the major reason we entered that war. Only I never knew the length between these two actions. Also, this book gave a good insight into where Pres. Wilsons' head and heart were at a time when he needed to be on top of things. In all, I totally enjoyed this book and at some points couldn't put it down.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully told story of the Lusitania.

I admit I was unfamiliar with the last crossing of Lucy. The author went above and beyond in his research to write this book. I could not put it down, so downloaded the audio version also. I have read or listened to the book twice. So much info I missed on my first reading. I read this in 2016 and know it was one of the best books I read all year.

[Terpsfan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary version

This is my first review. I hope the original version is better because the summary is so poorly written that I couldn't finish it. Did anyone even proof it? Not worth $ 2.99.

[Agnes DiPietrantonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read

A "Cliff Notes" approach to this book. I may read it in the future as I enjoy Erik Larson's style of writing and the care he takes with his research.

[Steve Peterson]

Erik never disappoints. His histories of the late 1800s and early 1900s make you feel like you are there. Loved this.