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jenmangler's review
4.0
The sinking of the Lusitania has always been just a paragraph in a history textbook to me. No longer. Erik Larson has a way of making the past come to life in a way that just sucks me in. Larson really puts you on board the ship, lets you walk the decks and get to know the passengers and crew. I came to care deeply about the people on board the Lusitania, rejoicing when they survived and feeling deeply saddened when they did not. Larson also helps the reader experience the pretty awful experience of being on a German submarine, right down to the smells (oh my God, the smells!).
We tend to think about events like this in terms of larger world events (in this case, WWI). What I appreciate most about this book is that its focus is really on how how this horrible event impacted people: those who survived, the families of those who perished, the families of the missing, the people who cared for the wounded and the dead. This is what often gets lost in history.
We tend to think about events like this in terms of larger world events (in this case, WWI). What I appreciate most about this book is that its focus is really on how how this horrible event impacted people: those who survived, the families of those who perished, the families of the missing, the people who cared for the wounded and the dead. This is what often gets lost in history.
jmrprice's review
4.0
History has so many stories to tell.
Larson is a master craftsman of the historical story, deftly weaving the strands of many individuals into a coherent whole representing singular epochal events creating significant repercussions.
Larson is a master craftsman of the historical story, deftly weaving the strands of many individuals into a coherent whole representing singular epochal events creating significant repercussions.
erinfrances_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
I’m finding narrative nonfiction to be a genre I really enjoy. This is the 2nd book I’ve read by this author. A very interesting read about the Lusitania.
rainjrop's review
4.0
Larson paints an immersive picture of the life of a ship passenger in 1915 while skillfully weaving in a history of Germany's WWI submarine warfare. Multiple threads intertwine and intersect, including British code breaking and Woodrow Wilson's personal life, and gradually built tension until I was nearly vibrating in my chair. Of course I knew the outcome, but seeing how all the pieces came together and the ignorance of the passenger as to their fate was very stressful; my compliments to the author.
I appreciated that Larson made the passengers come to life: with the help of their diaries and other contemporary sources, the passengers were given back stories and lives, making their losses all the more tragic and real.
I appreciated that Larson made the passengers come to life: with the help of their diaries and other contemporary sources, the passengers were given back stories and lives, making their losses all the more tragic and real.
beachybookstack's review
3.0
A slow read/listen but interesting to hear about the lives and plans of those aboard the Lusitania & the U-boat who ultimately sunk them. The whole ordeal had always been described to me as "the final straw for the US to enter WWI!" when really, it was a whole 2 years after the disaster that Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany.
The circumstances of the sinking are also something to wrap your head around. With the active war zone & multiple recent attacks on market vessels, why didn't the navy offer escort? Why didn't they give better information to the Lusitania captain and crew? Then they tried to throw the captain under the bus for the actions he took? Yikes.
The audiobook narration is slow paced and without emotional emphasis so it's a bit textbook feeling. It takes more than half of the book until the U-boat lines up their shot. The last 1/3 of the book is the political consequences of the sinking and different military reactions. The epilogue on various occupants was good.
The circumstances of the sinking are also something to wrap your head around. With the active war zone & multiple recent attacks on market vessels, why didn't the navy offer escort? Why didn't they give better information to the Lusitania captain and crew? Then they tried to throw the captain under the bus for the actions he took? Yikes.
The audiobook narration is slow paced and without emotional emphasis so it's a bit textbook feeling. It takes more than half of the book until the U-boat lines up their shot. The last 1/3 of the book is the political consequences of the sinking and different military reactions. The epilogue on various occupants was good.