For those of you that haven't or couldn't attend book club lately, we'll be publishing the previous months' discussion questions here. I hope eventually to post discussion questions for all of the books we've covered since I took over a couple of years ago, maybe even beyond. It will take a while. Until then, we will be posting discussion questions a couple of times a month. Here are the questions from October's title, Dead Wake. We hope these questions spark discussions of your own.
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
by Erik Larson
Summary:
On May 1, 1915, almost a full year into WWI, the Lusitania, one of the most richly appointed and fastest luxury liners of the time, sails from New York to Liverpool with a record number of civilian men, women, and children, despite the German declaration that the seas surrounding Britain are a war zone. Due to a combination of forces including hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded British secret, and more, the Lusitania sinks and makes its way into the history books as one of history's great disasters. And that is only part of the story. 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.
Discussion Questions
In his Note to Readers, Erik Larson writes that before researching Dead Wake, he thought he knew "everything there was to know" about the sinking of the Lusitania, but soon realized "how wrong [he] was." What did you know about the Lusitania before reading the book? Did any of Larson’s revelations surprise you?
What were the major safety concerns about the voyage of the Lusitania? How were these concerns addressed before departure?
Why did President Woodrow Wilson agree to launce this passenger ship even in the face of imminent danger? Based on the information he had at the time, do you agree with his assessment of risk and his decision to allow the ship to leave port?
Captain Wilson also determined that it was safe to travel across waters that were known to have German submarines attacking American passenger ships. What do you think his primary motivations were in agreeing to make the trip?
The Lusitania faced several delays before departure. How did the delays play into the eventual sinking of the ship?
After reading Dead Wake, what was your impression of Captain Turner? Was he cautious enough? How did you react to the Admiralty’s attempts to place the blame for the Lusitania’s sinking squarely on his shoulders?
Many high profile individuals boarded the boat for its journey. What figures stood out to you? Based on what they knew at the time, do you think their purposes for traveling warranted the risk of doing so?
Erik Larson deftly weaves accounts of glamorous first class passengers such as Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt with compelling images of middle-class families and of the ship’s crew. Whose personal story resonated the most with you?
Why do you think Larson decided to include the individual stories of high-profile passengers in the book?
Do you think the passengers were fully aware of the danger? Should they have been given a more detailed description of possible attacks before leaving?
Charles Lauriat went to extraordinary measures to protect his Thackeray drawings and his rare edition of A Christmas Carol, but eventually both were lost. In Lauriat’s position, which possessions would you have tried to save? Why does Larson write in such great detail about the objects people brought aboard the Lusitania?
Edith Galt Wilson would come to play a significant role in the White House after Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke in 1919. What made her a good match for Wilson? What other aspects of Wilson’s personal life did you find intriguing?
Why was Wilson so insistent on maintaining neutrality even as German U-boat attacks claimed American lives? Was his reluctance to go to war justified?
How did you respond to the many what-ifs that Larson raises about U.S. involvement in the Great War? Would Wilson have abandoned his isolationist stance without the Lusitania tragedy? Could Germany and Mexico have succeeded in conquering the American Southwest?
Walter Schwieger was the commander of the German U-20 submarine. The section follows his voyage in just as much depth as the Lusitania’s. Why do you think Larson decided to go into such detail about the enemy vessel?
By attacking civilian ships, were Captain Schwieger and his U-20 crew committing acts of terrorism? Does it matter that Germany ran advertisements declaring the waters around Great Britain to be a war zone?
How did Captain Schwieger’s leadership style compare with that of Captain Turner? Did you feel sympathy for Schwieger and his crew?
Though the British Navy was tracking U-20’s location, it didn’t alert the Lusitania, nor did it provide a military escort. Why not? Do you consider Churchill and Room 40 partly to blame for the sinking? How should countries balance the integrity of their intelligence operations with their duty to protect civilians?
Why did President Wilson not recognize the danger faced by the Lusitania, even in the face of new facts?
Some have argued that Churchill deliberately chose not to protect the Lusitania in hopes that the sinking of such a prominent ship would draw the United States into the war. After reading Larson’s account, what do you think of this theory?
Why did the Admiralty’s deliberations in Room 40 not result in changes to the trajectory of the Lusitania? What information did they receive that kept them from realizing the urgency of the threat?
While Germany’s advertisement scared away some would-be Lusitania passengers, most placed their faith in the British Navy to protect the ship, and some laughed off the risk altogether. In their position, would you have cancelled your ticket?
Do you think Captain Turner should have made a different call in the face of the bad advisements he was receiving? Why might he have followed those directions?
How did the Cunard Daily Bulletin keep passengers updated? What information did it lack that may have alerted them to the details of the approach of Germany’s underwater weaponized vessels?
At what point did Captain Turner realize the urgency of the threat? What happened to convince him of the need to prepare for a potential attack? What preparations did he make to address this possibility?
What obstacles did the U-20 face that prevented it from attacking the Lusitania more quickly than it did? How did Schwieger address these challenges?
What lessons does the sinking of the Lusitania have for us in the twenty-first century?
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