Dead Wake
It is a story that many of us think we know but don't, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love.
Where Dead Wake keeps showing up
Two of our editors' lists feature this novel.
What you might want to know about Dead Wake
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Erik Larson reconstructs the final crossing of the Lusitania in May 1915, cutting between the British liner's passengers, the German submarine U-20 hunting it, and the British Admiralty's room of coded intercepts.
Yes. Dead Wake is Erik Larson's nonfiction account of the 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat. Larson reconstructs the final voyage from passenger letters, diaries, and naval records.
Yes. Dead Wake fits Erik Larson's signature style of narrative nonfiction history, like The Devil in the White City and The Splendid and the Vile. He weaves multiple real characters into a single suspenseful narrative.
Dead Wake was written by Erik Larson, published in 2015 by Random House.
Dead Wake is 448 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Dead Wake takes most readers 7 to 10 hours to finish.
Dead Wake is a standalone novel by Erik Larson, not part of a series.
Dead Wake is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
