Erik Larson's "Dead Wake"...A Book Review

There's so much history I don't know. I can understand why people study history, be it to teach, or just to have that information locked into your mind. Many people study ancient history, the great societies of Egypt, Greece, Mesopotamia, while others focus on the Dark Ages of Europe.

I'm pretty sure I'd find amazing stories in every time period. Personally, I love hearing about the mid-twentieth century. It's when my parents came of age. My father was a veteran of WWII and I never got a chance to talk to him about what it was like to live during that era.

I haven't focused a lot on WWI, even though that was when my grandparents came of age. But today I finished listening to Erik Larson's Dead Wake, an in depth telling of Germany's sinking of the Lusitania.

Fascinating.

I've read two of Larson's books, The Devil in the White City, and In the Garden of Beasts. I loved The Devil in the White City so much, I knew I'd read anything Mr. Larson wrote. So far, he hasn't disappointed, including Dead Wake.

I know very little of the Lusitania's sinking (sorry, spoiler alert...). Much more has been made of the HMS Titanic disaster, but after learning of how the Lusitania sank, to me it's a sadder tale, because it wasn't an act of nature mixed with human errors. Lusitania's end was an act of war. Titanic's demise most likely changed how ships were built and how ocean voyages were navigated. What happened to the Lusitania helped change the world.

If you've not had the opportunity to read a book by Erik Larson, you're in for an amazing literary experience. Larson has the wonderful ability to bring these people to life, almost as if you could speak to them, as if you know them, which makes leaning of the way they died and survived that much more impactful.

In the end, the event was another piece of history. It was a maritime event, a war event, a human event. Larson points out all the things that had to have happened--and happened just right--for the disaster to have unfolded the way it did. It got me thinking, if this ship hadn't been attacked, would America joined WWI? And if not, how would the world be today? That's another fascinating aspect of history, the "what ifs." 

I should really study more of history, and read more of Mr. Larson's books.

Erik Larson's "In The Garden Of Beasts"...A Book Review

A few years ago my mother-in-law bought me a book written by Erik Larson. The book was, The Devil in the White City. I will always consider that book amazing because it brought together two incredible stories, stories I knew nothing about, and joined them in a way as to not diminish either story. It also taught me of a part of history I may never have known if I had not read the book, that of America's biggest serial killer. Unbelievable story!

So, when I saw another Larson book available at the library, I picked it up without even knowing what the book was about. There are a few authors I would do this for and Erik Larson is one of them. Last month I read book about D-Day. This book goes into detail about an American family living in Berlin in the 1930s and how Hitler's rise was seen through their eyes.

Fascinating!

Of course, in hindsight we look back at those who lived during that time and wonder why good people didn't do more to stop this madman. Unfortunately, the answer is the same reason we have evil and wicked people living in our times and we're too afraid to say anything, afraid we'll offend, afraid we'll be called names, afraid those evil people won't like us. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. In this book Larson tells us of people apologizing and making excuses for the Nazis, telling Europe and America that things were getting better--after all, the beatings of innocent Americans and Jews were decreasing. And, the Nazis said these were atypical and not official party policy.

Maybe you can tell reading this book infuriated me at times. It affected me so much because the same thing is happening in our world right now! We live in a time where if we identify evil--true evil, deny any wrongdoing and at the same time turn the accusers into society's greatest enemy.

But, enough soapboxing...back to the book. Larson, through notes, news articles and personal journals follows the lives of the American ambassador to Germany in the 1930s. At first the family accepted the new wave of optimism as positive, but quickly it became obvious to the ambassador that things were not as they seemed. He tried to warn the world, but due to the weakness and fear of others, his warnings were mostly ignored (another reason for frustration...). The book does not go into the war years, but focuses on what happened before WWII began. It's another example of how we can learn from history.

If we only would...

* Photo used without permission from: https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/9938498-in-the-garden-of-beasts