Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

Book Club #11.
Lesson: No ship is unsinkable.

About the Book:

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

 

 Summary: 

A large passenger ship, the Lusitania, is sunk by a German submarine. This highlights a historical moment in which the previous rules of war are broken, civilians are no longer safe and the power of the German U-boat is displayed. Warships and large cruise liners are quickly sunk.

 

Characters:

• Cerman U-boat Captain
• Various Lusitania passengers

Questions:

1. Which character did you relate to the most?

2. How important is it to use primary sources when writing a nonfiction? Do you care as a reader about what kind of research the author performed in preparing for a book?

3. What did you know about the Lusitania prior to reading this book and what new I formation surprised you?

4. What did you find captivating about the writing style of the author, and what would you have liked to be different?

5. Do you think that the US should have jumped into the war earlier? How might things have turned out differently?

6. What did you think about this perception of unsinkable ships during that era? Would you have taken the trip?

 

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• previous knowledge about Lusitania, WWII, Uboats
• Larson writing style - lots of detail
• How much detail should be included
• Progression of storyline
• Researching for non-fiction books

1/3 bears finished book and 0/3 loved it
guess we should go back to fiction

References:

1. Erik Larson Google Talk, 4/28/2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRJ96wAa40A