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  • Dead Wake

  • The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
  • Written by: Erik Larson
  • Narrated by: Scott Brick
  • Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (93 ratings)

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Dead Wake

Written by: Erik Larson
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's Summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania

“Both terrifying and enthralling.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Thrilling, dramatic and powerful.”—NPR
“Thoroughly engrossing.”—George R.R. Martin


On May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth month, 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. The passengers were surprisingly at ease, even though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, German U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds”—the fastest liner then in service—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, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger’s U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small—hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more—all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history.

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 while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love.

Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster whose intimate details and true meaning have long been obscured by history.

Finalist for the Washington State Book Award • One of the Best Books of the Year: The Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Miami Herald, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, LibraryReads, Indigo

©2015 Erik Larson (P)2014 Random House Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What the critics say

"Larson is one of the modern masters of popular narrative nonfiction...a resourceful reporter and a subtle stylist who understands the tricky art of Edward Scissorhands-ing narrative strands into a pleasing story...An entertaining book about a great subject, and it will do much to make this seismic event resonate for new generations of readers."The New York Times Book Review

"Larson is an old hand at treating nonfiction like high drama...He knows how to pick details that have maximum soapy potential and then churn them down until they foam [and] has an eye for haunting, unexploited detail."The New York Times

"In his gripping new examination of the last days of what was then the fastest cruise ship in the world, Larson brings the past stingingly alive...He draws upon telegrams, war logs, love letters, and survivor depositions to provide the intriguing details, things I didn't know I wanted to know...Thrilling, dramatic and powerful."—NPR

What listeners say about Dead Wake

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

History Come to Life

I am astounded at how Erik Larsen managed to bring people, places and events so vividly back to life using his years of painstaking research. Brilliant and riveting. No pun intended.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This is a great book

I love the way this man writes, and always learn so much during the reading. This book brings so many characters to life; the passengers are no longer just names and a statistic, but I'm now aware of them as living, breathing people and whose lives I had a brief glimpse into, were cut so tragically short. I also found the details of the interaction and communication between the ship, Cunard Lines and the government, most interesting - who blamed whom, what should or shouldn't have been done, etc. I highly recommend this book. #Audible1

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional narration

Vivid personal details bring the humanity into focus without weighing down the script. Engaging, thoughtful, and descriptive to the end.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Compelling

Truly fascinating account of the “last voyage of the Lusitania”. A sobering account of how ‘conditions of war’ are too readily used by nations to justify heinous actions by “the bad guys”, “the good guys”, and “the neutrals”. Compelling historical account of a horrendous tragedy ... no political ‘innocents’ in this ...

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Riveting

I love the narrator, the story and the history behind the sinking.

Happy listening everyone

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting read

Definitely worth a listen, but not quite on the level as some of Larson’s other books.
Paints a detailed account of the lives of many involved with the event, but lacks singular focus on any one individual. This might have more to do with the first-hand material at hand than any decision on Larson’s part, but I much prefer his works where the focus is one a smaller pool of individuals.

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Very disappointed

Love Larson’s other books as they weave a great story into the historical events. This was a big snooze fest as if the narrator was reading from a list of facts. It never got better or more interesting. Boo.

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