Dead Wake: One on One with Erik Larson
Curriculum: Discussion, Project and Essay Topic Ideas
HEC-TV speaks with Erik Larson about his book Dead Wake: The Last Crossing
of the Lusitania. The book examines the sinking of the ship during World
War I and the events leading up to the tragic event. Larson talks in depth
about his exhaustive research that includes detailed accounts from
passengers on the ship. Dead Wake was named Book of the Year in the
History Category by World Magazine. The program’s running time is 26:31.
Dead Wake: The Sinking of the Lusitania: One on One with Erik Larson
http://www.hectv.org/watch/maryville-talks-books/one-on-one-with-eriklarson/19026/
Program Overview
Program segments have not been identified on the program page on the
website, so divisions are mine based on interview topic.
Introduction: From 0:00 to 2:40
Narrated by Cordell Whitlock, a photo montage highlights events of the
sinking of the RMS Lusitania. As Erik Larson’s Dead Wake chronicles the
fascinating and terrifying final days of the Lusitania, this introduction
describes and illustrates the historical event. It explains that the Lusitania
sailed from Liverpool on May 1, 1915, and was sunk by a German U -boat
during England’s war with Germany and prior to America’s inv olvement in
World War I. Although, it is noted, Germany had declared the waters
surrounding the United Kingdom a war zone, the Lusitania was allowed to
sail without protection. Containing numerous first hand passenger accounts,
Dead Wake describes the “tragic convergence of circumstances that defied
logical explanation” that led up to the tragic loss of 1198 lives, 128 of them
American.
Six hundred bodies were never found , and many were
unidentified and buried in a common grave in Liverpool. This sinking, it is
noted, “helped shift public opinion in the United States.” Now, Americans
began to feel that the war “over there” could touch them.
Author Erik Larson is interviewed in a library setting by Cordell Whitlock. A
notable plus throughout this interview is the display of illustrative and
complementary photos and documents during many of Mr. Larson’s
responses. I want to emphasize how richly supported this interview is with
images; as I have written my topic summaries, I have recalled, ag ain and
again, how the image montage helped communicate the message so
effectively.
Painstaking Research – 2:40
Mr. Whitlock notes the “painstaking research” evident in the book and asks
about the author’s research process. Mr. Larson comments that once he
knows what he is focused on, the research is “half the fun.” He works “to
find the absolute best material to light the readers’ imaginations.” He noted
that the archives available to him relative to this topic gave him a unique
opportunity to “leverage material to recapture the real life suspense”
associated with the event. The “great stuff” he found, the telegrams and
letters, helped him infuse the whole saga with authenticity. As for the
research process, one needs to go to the archives, sit and put in the time,
according to Mr. Larson. He says the days of the copy machine are over; he
would find the resource, take a digital photo of it, and process it at home.
Perfect Storm of Circumstance? – 3:57
Both men discussed the rich coincidence of the event. Dead Wake reveals
the events, the coincidences, the “vectors of force” that all had to come
together perfectly for the Lusitania to have been in exactly the wrong place
at the wrong time. Had the fog lifted sooner, or the boilers not have been in
cost saving mode, or the ship not left late, or numerous other factors not
happened, the Lusitania would not have met the end it met.
Woodrow Wilson – Mourning and Passion – 5:05
Mr. Whitlock asks about Mr. Larson’s handling of aspects of Woodrow
Wilson’s life. Mr. Larson found Wilson “compelling,” not the dry historical
figure he had expected. As Mr. Larson found President Wilson’s letters, of
which dozens were passionate love letters to the woman he met months
after his wife died, his impression of the president changed. Mr. Larson calls
his description of Wilson’s love story a “nice narrative strain,” that he is
“allowed to tell because of its convergence with other story elements.”
Woodrow Wilson – Use of Typewriter -7:40
Mr. Whitlock noted his delight in considering the image of Woodrow Wilson
using a typewriter, especially in the context of our digital age. Mr. Larson
commented that President Woodrow Wilson used his typewriter for all
correspondence and specifically to write his declaration of war speech.
Then, Mr. Whitlock noted the image of President Wilson walking from the
White House to the Capitol to deliver his speech asking for that declaration.
This led Mr. Larson to note that that speech did not mention the Lusitania,
and that many additional factors had prompted Wilson, who very much
wanted to keep America out of the war, to finally ask to involve us in it. Mr.
Larson strongly reminds Mr. Whitlock that, contrary to “what we are taught
in high school,” the Lusitania is NOT Pearl Harbor. Since its sinking, several
American flag vessels had been deliberately sunk. Perhaps most significant
in the war declaration was the “Zimmerman telegram.” This communication
offered to give various chunks of America, like Texas and New Mexico, to
Mexico if it would ally with Germany. Certainly, though, the Lusitania was in
the “psychic” mix, as Wilson, who was “hell bent on keeping America out of
war,” asked for a declaration of war.
What If the Lusitania Hadn’t Been Sunk? -- 10:11
Although Mr. Larson doesn’t deal in considering what might have happened,
he called this topic an interesting speculation. He went on to say that we
might have gotten in the war sooner had the Lusitania not been targeted:
Mr. Larson tells Mr. Whitlock that President Wilson did not want US
involvement in war to be a rash decision. His reasoning was that then, the
first ship disasters Americans would have had to deal with would have been
American targeted ships. Such actions might have caused too much
immediate outrage for Mr. Wilson to control. Committed to not making a
rash decision, Wilson used the Lusitania incident to allow us to start a
dialogue with the Germans.
Room 40 and American Involvement in the War --12:09
Mr. Whitlock mentions his ignorance on one of the book’s subplots, the
existence of Room 40, a super-secret British ongoing intelligence effort.
Winston Churchill was strongly involved in this. According to Mr. Larson,
three events early in the war enabled the British Admiralty to acquire the
three most important code books and the ability to decode German
messages. The British, according to Larson, had so much intelligence around
the possible sinking of a ship, that many question the conspiracy theory that
the Lusitania the disaster was “allowed” to happen to hasten America’s
decision to become involved in the War.
Mr. Larson then talks about all the factors, a “lot of interesting bits and
pieces,” that would support such a theory, but stops short of committing to
that opinion. Why, he asks, was the Lusitanian allowed to sail without
protection? And, why, would Winston Churchill write, in a letter supporting
the need for shipping trade from America that “if some of that shipping to
the US gets into trouble, all the better?” (Quote mention at 14:35) Larson
states, though, that there is no “smoking” telegram, no document that lays
out such a plan or intention.
“All this evidence is circumstantial, Larson affirms: Room 40 knew about
submarines in the area, and Room 40 did not communicate this warning to
Cunard. All this said, Mr. Larson says that his research can’t c onclusively
prove or disprove this theory.”
Naval Historian -- 15:40
In forming his opinion on this conspiracy theory controversy, Mr. Larson
mentioned why he included mention of a naval historian who wrote about
Room 40. Earlier in his life, this man believed the sinking of the Lusitania
was just a big mistake and a monumental screw up. Later, though, the
historian, a lover and former member of the Royal Navy, changes his mind to
believe that the sinking was more than a mess; it was some kind of plot. Mr.
Larson doesn’t believe there is a better explanation for what happened. The
historian openly invited his public to disprove his reasoning.
Passengers’ Personal Stories -- 16:39
Mr. Whitlock asked how Mr. Larson chose whose personal stories to tell. Mr.
Larson answered that he choose the stories of those who left the most
detailed accounts of what happened, during the voyage as well as of the
sinking. People then wrote and traveled with personal diaries, materials
that might have been very valuable, but all those were lost with the ship. He
relied mainly on the lengthy accounts found in the letters survivors wrote to
describe their entire voyage.
For example, Charles Lauriat, Jr., a bookseller well off enough to travel first
class, wrote a book on the incident. Mr. Larson’s favorite character, Dwight
Harris, wrote several enthusiastically detailed letters to his mother
describing what happened. Mr. Harris’ accounts were engagingly and
profoundly helpful in how delighted he seemed to have been to have been
part of this event.
Profound Tragedy -- 19:02
Both men agreed that what was truly sad about the event was that so many
victims were not found or not identified. Six hundred people were not
found, and many were not identified.
Pictures were taken of the
“unknowns” in the morgue before buried in a common grave in hopes that
some might later be identified.
The U Boat’s Commander, Captain Schwieger -- 19:55
Mr. Larson found Captain Schwieger, commander of the U Boat that sank the
Lusitania, “strangely sympathetic.” “Thirty-something” and “well-liked by his
crew and colleagues,” he was a “lone wolf” serving under “harsh conditions.
One fellow captain later said he “couldn’t hurt a fly.” Captain Schwieger’s
log notes that as the Lusitania sank, he couldn’t fire another torpedo into
the crowd of struggling people, but Mr. Larson suggests it might have been
“touched up” later. “World outrage” that the sinking was a “war crime”
rather than a “naval triumph” may have accounted for some log touch up.
Ten minutes after he torpedoed the Lusitania, Captain Schwieger did take a
shot, which missed, at another target.
Perfect Torpedo Target -- 22:01
Mr. Whitlock asked if it was true that the torpedo had to hit at the exact
spot it hit at to sink. Mr. Larson confirmed that engineering study confirmed
that the torpedo penetrated the Lusitania’s hull at the perfect place to take
on the most water, causing the ship to sink in just 18 minutes. Yet another
irony is that the U Boat captain miscalculated the speed of the Lusitania, and
his shot did not hit at the target he aimed at. This was just one m ore of the
many little things that had to go wrong, or right, for the Lusitania to receive
its fatal blow.
Lusitania’s Captain Turner -- 25:06
Mr. Larson has a lot of respect for Captain Turner, a tough son of a gun.
Respected by Cunard, he was a “sailor of the old school” who continued to
serve when the “rules were undergoing a revolutionary change no one
recognized yet.” He hadn’t had to be aware of submarines during his career,
and he had to contend with the “awful ultimate ramifications” of that gap in
experience. Captain Turner, quite simply “confronted something that
nothing could have prepared him for.”
Legacy of the Lusitania --24:18
Mr. Whitlock asked Mr. Larson what he felt was the legacy of the Lusitania.
Mr. Larson feels he told a “cautionary tale.” Beware of the hubris of
believing that things that hadn’t happened couldn’t one day happen.
Beware of overconfidence in the strength of a mode of travel or that
civilians were immune to attack. The incident “opened America’s eyes to
the war in Europe could touch—had touched them. War was real.
Credits – 25:12
Discussion, Project and Essay Topic Ideas
These prompts are based on the interview with Mr. Larson. It is assumed
that students have knowledge of the contents of his book, Dead Wake.
Mr. Larson speaks of how he chooses to tell President Woodrow Wilson’s
story, which is rich in detail his mourning the loss of his first wife and
responding to passion for a new love. Does this love story belong in the
overall tale, as Mr. Larson justifies in the interview? Larson also briefly
mentions telling the story of Room 40 within his Lusitania account. Does
Larson digress in telling the Wilson and/or Room 40 stories, or any other
tangent accounts you note, to serve telling an engaging tale that is only
loosely related to the central topic? Has he made a mistake in including too
much?
To what degree do you agree or disagree with Mr. Larson’s opinions of the
two commanders, Captain Turner of the Lusitania and Captain Schwieger of
the German U-Boat? What textual support informs your determinations?
Mr. Whitlock mentions his appreciation of the image created by Mr. Larson
of President Woodrow Wilson at his typewriter. (Mr. Whitlock later briefly
mentions the impact of the image of President Wilson walking to deliver his
declaration of war speech.) What images resonate for you? How does Mr.
Larson create such evocative images? How do such images serve his
intention to involve the reader in the immediacy of the experience?
Aside: In Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, he captured my imagination
with many images, but the most memorable is of the first turning of the
newly constructed Ferris wheel.
Mr. Larson spends some time considering a common belief that the sinking
of the Lusitania was “allowed” and, possibly, “invited” to happen to involve
the United States in World War I. Consider Mr. Larson ’s listing of evidence
along with your own knowledge of the book’s contents to make a well
supported case for the agreement and/or disagreement with this belief.
Mr. Larson discusses the legacy he feels is the “take away” in reading his
account of the sinking of the Lusitania. Find evidence to support the
message he believes that his story tells. Identify and support additional
lessons you feel that a reading of Dead Wake presents.
Consider: If you had interviewed Mr. Larson, what else might you have
asked? His website offers the opportunity to post questions to him : he says
he will select one to answer “from time to time.”
Erik Larson’s website: http://eriklarsonbooks.com/
Form for Posing Question:
answered/
http://eriklarsonbooks.com/your-questions-
The same discussion questions on the reading of Dead Wake are posted in
several locations (as of 4-2016). They can be found at
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/dead-wake-the-last-crossing-of-thelusitania and are reprinted below:
The same discussion questions on the reading of Dead Wake are posted in
several locations (as of 4-2016). They can be found at
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/dead-wake-the-last-crossing-of-thelusitania and are reprinted below:
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Found at http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/dead-wake-the-last-crossing-of-thelusitania
by Erik Larson
1. 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?
2. 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?
3. 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?
4. 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?
5. 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?
6. 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?
7. 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?
8. 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?
9. How did Captain Schwieger’s leadership style compare with that of Captain Turner? Did you feel
sympathy for Schwieger and his crew?
10. 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?
11. 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?
12. 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?
13. What lessons does the sinking of the Lusitania have for us in the 21st century?
Here is a link to one of the three located sites that present these questions on the web:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/dead-wake-the-last-crossing-of-the-lusitania