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Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy

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This was the time honored tradition that governed war at sea. Britain and Germany were at war since August 4, 1914, when WWI commenced. Nevertheless warship captains were in the habit of signalling or firing warning shots, allowing crew and passengers of merchantmen to disembark before consigning ship and cargo to the watery depths. Rewards were for tonnage sunk not the numbers of persons sent to "Davey Jones' Locker". This wouldn't apply to the RMS Lusitania anyway. At 785 feet and displacing nearly 40,000 tons with a capacity of carrying 2,000 passengers and 850 crew, she was no mere merchantman but a luxury passenger liner advertised as the "Queen of the Seas". She sailed with impunity, without escort, and according to a well publicized and regular schedule. This was no doubt the mindset of Captain William Turner as he got the Lusitania underway on the morning of May 1, 1915 for the return voyage from New York to Liverpool; the ship's 202nd Atlantic crossing. Turner would also be comforted in knowing that the ship had thirty-four electrically controlled watertight doors which made her "virtually unsinkable" (the same words used to describe a certain ship involved in an earlier titanic catastrophe at sea). Lusitania was popularly known as the "Greyhound of the Sea" due to a top speed in excess of 25 knots and this seemed to have given Turner great confidence as he declared "a torpedo can't get the Lusitania - she runs too fast."

This gripping account by Diana Preston shows the false bravado of that statement and the truth of LUSITANIA being instead known as "An Epic Tragedy". On May 7 in broad daylight the ship was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-20 within sight of the coast of Ireland. The ship went down in under twenty minutes with the loss of 1,201 lives including 291 women and 94 children. There was utter shock and disbelief and the repercussions were immediate with worldwide condemnation of the sinking. There were 128 Americans among those lost including Alfred Vanderbilt. In the US, official complacency and public isolationist sentiments totally evaporated. What made it worse was that there had been no warning whatsoever. Only a trail of bubbles indicated an incoming torpedo.

This book is Preston's attempt to sort out why the usual rules of war were disregarded with the Lusitania "carrying civilian men, women and children". As is true of most tragedies at sea, the sinking of the ship is usually only the highwater mark, there is invariably confusion, controversy, and if it's a big enough event, there's sure to be conspiracy theories about. So it is with the Lusitania. One of the issues Preston looks at is: Did 32 year old Kapitan Leutnant Walther Schweiger - the commander of U-20 - know what he was firing at?, and did he act on his own initiative or under specific orders? This ties in with the larger theme of whether the Lusitania was a legitimate target as the Germans claimed. There are at least three versions offered as rationale (1) The Lusitania was an armed merchant cruiser (2) She was ferrying Canadian troops, and (3) She was loaded with guns and munitions. A conspiracy theory surrounds Britain supposedly setting these events in motion so as to draw us into the war. Preston doesn't find any evidence supporting this idea and it's apparent that conspiracists are imagining machinations by Britain's First Lord of the Admiralty. The events of history that Winston Churchill supposedly single-handedly orchestrated is quite phenomenal!

While Churchill, Woodrow Wilson, and Kaiser Wilhelm II all get due attention, this is as much about the passengers and their survival at sea, and in places it is a richly uplifting story of human courage and dignity. A female passenger Madame de Page assisted children into the lifeboats and was directly responsible for saving thirty-five young lives. Captain Turner stayed at his post and tried to steam on in order to beach the Lusitania. This failed and as the ship foundered he tried to maintain calm and only left when he believed he was the last man aboard. At this point nobody knew that so many were trapped below decks.

Preston offers us a riveting historical account that reads like a nautical yarn. The facts are grim and the loss of life was horrendous but Preston's writing skill allows her to bring the people and events alive. The historical detail remains as an unobtrusive backdrop and the richer and more colorful human interest stories shine through.

Move over Stephen Ambrose! This historian has outdone you with her seamless melding of diaries, public records, newspaper accounts, military records, and her prose as the glue. Read this book, including appendix, acknowledgements and, even the references (!) in two long but captivated sittings! Surpases Ambrose's, Undaunted Courage - my previous favorite. On a par with McCullough's John Adams. Bravo, Mrs. Preston.

I believe the comparison of Diana Preston to Pullitzer Prize Winner Barbara Tuchman is quite justified, as Ms. Preston has gone to great lengths to provide intricate detail of the lives and events surrounding the Lusitania's tragic sinking off the Irish coast.

It would be a disservice to say that this book provides too much detail for a reader who just wants the basics of the ship's sinking. I find that it is those details that make the book so engaging and, surprisingly, a fast read. Every good book I've read has typically taken about 100 pages before the author "has" you, and before you know it, Preston will have you on the top deck staring down at that single menacing torpedo.

Knowing how the disaster affected so many lives through the poetic testimony of its survivors adds a much welcome human element to the tragedy.

I was very much impressed by Preston's inquiry into what actually did cause that second explosion on the vessel. She has all the facts up to date and interests you with each new development.

You'll know all there is to know about the Lusitania and more after reading Preston's book. A most engaging read

It's the facts that make this one of the better history books available about this topic. Ms Preston gives the reader pretty much all the facts from both sides of the issue, while leaving out her opinion (until the very end). As you read, you can make your own decisions about the facts presented and the decisions made by the involved parties.

Another good point about this book is the look at the personalities of the people who were touched by this tragedy. From German high command, to American president, to lowly deckhand, the reader gets close to all the people mentioned in the book. One gets to feel bad for many of the passengers and the plight they experienced. Ms Preston also brings home the facts about the many children who were victims on the Lusitania. It seems that other historians forget about the world's youth in reporting and writing, but not here.

I enjoyed Ms Preston's style and use of words that made the reading easy and enjoyable. She tells a very good story, without getting longwinded or overdone. The time went by very fast while reading this book, and I'm sorry that it had to end.

Thank you Ms Preston. I look forward to your next opus.

Diana Preston's "Luisitania: An Epic Tragedy" is to the writing of history what Frank Sinatra is to pop singing, what Michael Jordan is to baketball what...well you get the picture. The 1915 sinking of the luxury liner by a German u-boat is given a thorough and yet entertaining treatment by the British author.
Preston sets the stage, introducing World War I, passenger liners, submarine warfare and the main players in the drama. Indeed, Preston's greatest gift is fully acquainting the reader with the individuals whose lives were forever altered or ended by the ships' sinking.
This is at once a technical explanation for the sinking, an overview of the policial forces then at work yet a compassionate study of people. Preston goes on to study the aftermath of the sinking. Again from varying standpoints, such as the long term effects on the war and and again the people involved.
Having read nothing previous on the Luisitania I am admittedly guessing in claiming that this is the defintive book on the subject. But I can safely vouch for the fact that it is meticulously reserached, even-handed and at all times readable.
What a pleasure.

I suspect it is very difficult to write about individual people involved in a mass tragedy in such a way as to make them come alive without becoming mired in detail. The author succeeds in doing just that. We have a "cast of characters" -- notables and non-notables -- aboard the Lusitania, as it makes its last voyage. When, as we know it will, the ship sinks, we are anxious to know what happened to the people we "knew". The author also manages to set the stage with historical background of the development of submarines and the context of the war, and the political scene, as well as to follow the political repercussions and the investigation into the sinking. All in all, a page-turner, well researched (with tons of footnotes, just the way i like it). The big surprise to me was how long it took rescuers to get to the ship, which was relativel close to shore.

Diana Preston's new book covering the events leading to the sinking of the Lusitania is sure to become one of the classic accounts on the subject. From a land-lubber's point of view I found the story well researched and very well presented. I enjoyed the background information on the ship and people involved, the build up to the final voyage, the accounts of the sinking and the world-wide ramifications of the German submarine attack. I found that the authors use of first-hand accounts were well placed and really conveyed the horror of the sinking as experienced by the survivors.

The story isn't a pleasant one and it makes you wonder how can some people act in the way they did and then you think to yourself, how would I act in the same circumstances? I found this book as enjoyable and as interesting to read as `The Sea Shall Embrace Them: The Tragic Story of the Steamship Arctic' by David Shaw. Both books provide the reader with a narrative that draws you into story, into the lives of the people facing uncertain fate and you feel so relieved that you are safe at home in a warm bed reading a good book.

I think that Preston has done a very decent job in bringing the people involved to life in her story of the events surrounding Lusitania's last voyage. In over 500 pages she tells the tale of this great and beautiful ship, its crew and passengers and its sinking at the hands of U-20. I found that her treatment of the German U-boat commander very fair and I was surprised at some of the information provided about the actual sinking and events following during the Inquest and other official investigations.

Overall this is a compelling and fact filled book, which holds your attention throughout. I am sure that this story should please most people interested in maritime history or in the R.M.S Lusitania.

Just a plain well-researched and readable book. Its strength is its balance. Preston is able to provide a good view of what is going on in everyone's head -- including why many Germans considered the sinking a heroic act. She tries, with mediocre success, to follow particular passengers through the voyage and, I think, gives two dimensional views of some of the players such as Winston Churchill. But the main thrust of the story is compelling and some of the passages, including the description of the sinking, are painfully vivid. With books like this around, who needs fiction?

I cannot begin to describe how moved I was by Ms. Preston's work. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy is a masterpiece of scholarship and style. Truly fascinating and monumental. I almost felt as if I were onboard on that fatal day. I felt helpless knowing that the majority of passengers were doomed all the while the sun shining and the shore in sight. Ms. Preston covers her bases allowing the reader to view the tragedy from all angles. We see the perspective of Germany, England, America and the remainder of Europe. In addition, she exposes the truths and lies that continue to surround the Lusitania tragedy to this day. Ms. Preston's book was an impulse buy, but I find the Lusitania sinking a memory I shall not forget and her book a remarkable work that I will always remember. Hats off Ms. Preston. Reader, buy this book.

This is a lively book full of surprises on each page. When I first picked up this book the thought that gripped me was "what on earth could be new that deserved to be in another book about the Lusitania?" Well, I'm glad I kept the book and read it through. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy is certainly worth the time it takes to get through it. There are new facts here. I found the Epilogue to be particularly interesting and the information on what happened to the U20 filled in the story....gave closure this event.
Diana Preston weaves the details of this tragedy around the reader like a spider weaving a web. Before you know it, you're standing on the deck of the Lusitania watching the torpedo speed its way to you. Absolutely gripping. Ms Preston also reminds me of another historian that was popular to read; Barbara Tuckman. Preston pays attention to details but doesn't overwhelm the reader with too much information. I can't wait to get my hands of some of her previous works. If you like history, especially maritime history, you'll love this book.