Lusitania - Diana Preston

[andigger]

I've gotten about half way through this book and I think it is great. I know very little about the episode of the war, but I think the author has developed the story very well, mixing the background of the key players and the history of the large cruising ships and subs before the war. I learned for example that the UK actually had the largest underwater fleet in the world in 1914.

I would highly recommend the book. Have any of the other pals read it?

Andy

[andigger]

Can't believe no one else has read this or has a comment.... Andy

[Halder]

I've read it. First class. Preston's a really great human writer (very similar to Robert Massie although she digs out far better sources). I can heartily recommend her book on the Boxer uprising, which has just been reissued as A Brief History of the Boxer Rebellion.

[Bruce Dennis]

Can't believe no one else has read this or has a comment.... Andy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Diana Preston has produced, in Lusitania (or Wilful Murder as it was also released), a masterclass in how to research a well-known story and let the facts tell the tale. This book is quite simply superb.

An earlier study of the Lusitania story, Luisitania by Colin Simpson, suffers in comparison but is still worthwhile reading for the light he throws on the American intrigue at the top level. His report of secret moves in the US to keep President Wilson in the dark on certain arms shipments is blockbuster stuff, but

Preston avoids this subject in the main body of her work and she must have had a good reason.

I give it 10 out of 10, and that is a first for me.

Get it.

Bruce

[DMcNay]

Thought I'd bump this thread to say that I've just finished reading this book, and would recommend it. I'll admit the war at sea is not my particular area of interest, but this book grabbed me, and made me want to go and find out more. For that alone it's a success.

An easy read, but don't let that comment fool you into thinking it's a "thin" read. It covers the ground very well in my opinion.

[Dolphin]

I agree that Wilful Murder is an excellent account of the Lusitania disaster. I also agree with Halder about A Brief History of the Boxer Rebellion, which is a very readable account of the campaign that's as comprehensive as most would require.

Changing centuries, Preston's The Road to Culloden Moor is a good history of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the '45. She is one of the very few historians whose name on the cover is sufficient reason to persuade me to purchase the book.

Gareth

[bob lembke]

I have a book (not readily accessible for a title check) on the Lusitania matter, by two investigative reporters from the Sunday Times, I think.

Quite a surprising book; aside from things about the arms on board, and the attempt to "frame" the captain at the Court of Inquiry, seemed to have suggested that the UK actually guided the ship to the known location of the U-20, and prevented Irish boats from putting out to pick up survivors, to run the casualty count and increase the diplomatic effect. Also, if 20 year memory serves, said that the hull was lined with 350 tons of a form of gun-cotton that explodes on contact with sea-water, thoughtfully packed in burlap.

Is this stuff true? Rather "explosive" disclosures, if true. Or have these guys been unmasked as great myth-makers?

Any one know this book?

Bob Lembke