Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A masterfully told true story of disaster, courage, and intrigue from Erik Larson, the acclaimed author of The Devil in the White City.

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

On May 1, 1915, the luxury ocean liner Lusitania—as grand as an English country estate—set sail from New York bound for Liverpool, filled with families, businessmen, and a record number of children. The passengers felt safe despite warnings that German U-boats prowled the Atlantic. After all, Lusitania was one of the fastest and most celebrated ships of her time, and her captain trusted that the rules of civilized warfare would protect them.

But the world was changing. Germany had declared the seas around Britain a war zone, and U-boat commander Walther Schwieger was determined to alter the course of naval warfare forever. As Unterseeboot-20 shadowed the great liner, a perfect storm of misjudgment, secrecy, and fate would lead to one of history’s most tragic maritime disasters.

Weaving meticulous research with gripping narrative, Erik Larson brings the story to life through a cast of unforgettable figures: Captain William Thomas Turner, who fought to save his ship; Theodate Pope, a pioneering female architect; Charles Lauriat, a Boston bookseller; and President Woodrow Wilson, torn between grief and the pull of a nation on the brink of war.

Dead Wake is both a heart-pounding chronicle of a doomed voyage and a portrait of an era. Rich with suspense and human drama, it reminds us how fragile peace can be and how history turns on the smallest moments.

Finalist: Washington State Book Award
Named a Best Book of the Year by: The Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Miami Herald, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, LibraryReads, and Indigo.

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