Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger's U-boat, but told no one. Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. He knew, moreover, that his ship - the fastest then in service - could outrun any threat. But the Lusitania was one of the era's great transatlantic 'Greyhounds' and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, and for months, its U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster that helped place America on the road to war.On May 1, 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. Full of glamour, mystery, and real-life suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, including the US President Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. It is a story that many of us think we know but don't, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way towards Liverpool, forces both grand and achingly small - hubris, a chance fog, a closely-guarded secret and more - converged to produce one of the great disasters of 20th century history. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit were tracking Schwieger's U-boat.but told no one. But Germany was intent on changing the rules, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. He also knew that his ship - the fastest then in service - could outrun any threat. For months, its submarines had brought terror to the North Atlantic.īut the Lusitania's captain, William Thomas Turner, had faith in the gentlemanly terms of warfare that had, for a century, kept civilian ships safe from attack. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone.

The passengers - including a record number of children and infants - were anxious. Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo On, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool.

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