Lusitania Audiobook By Greg King, Penny Wilson cover art

Lusitania

Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Lusitania

By: Greg King, Penny Wilson
Narrated by: Johnny Heller
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Lusitania: She was a ship of dreams, a microcosm of the last years of the waning Edwardian Era and the coming influences of the 20th century. When she left New York on her final voyage, she sailed from the New World to the Old. Yet an encounter with a primitive German U-Boat sent her and her gilded passengers to their tragic deaths.

A hundred years after her sinking, Lusitania remains an evocative ship of mystery. Was she carrying munitions that exploded? Did Winston Churchill engineer a conspiracy that doomed the liner?

Lost amid these tangled skeins is the romantic, vibrant, and heartrending tale of the passengers who sailed aboard her. Rarely was an era so glamorous. Rarely was a ship so magnificent. And rarely was the human element of tragedy so quickly lost to diplomatic maneuvers and militaristic threats.

©2015 Greg King and Penny Wilson (P)2015 Tantor Engineering Europe Great Britain Military Ships & Shipbuilding Transportation Wars & Conflicts World War I England Winston Churchill Submarine War Royalty United Kingdom

Critic reviews

"Those who relish tales of the rich and famous will appreciate this book, but the real joy is in the authors' detective work and attention to detail." ( Kirkus)
All stars
Most relevant  
This is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania. It is the sinking of the Lusitania that brought the United States into World War I. The Lusitania was one of the beautiful luxury lines of the gilded age.

King and Wilson have done an excellent job fleshing out the history of the ship’s last voyage and the people who sailed on it. Albert Vanderbilt was probably the most famous American on board to parish with the Lusitania.

King and Wilson tells in detail about the ship itself, from 200 miles of electric wiring that ran through it, to the three barrels of live turtles that the chefs brought on board. Part of the book feels like a series of short biographies of the wealthy passengers.

The authors describe in detail the attack by the German U-boat U-20 and the successful torpedoing of the ship. King and Wilson tell of lifebelts stolen from cabins, rickety lifeboats plunging into the ocean, passengers in the water getting sucked under by the sinking ship. It took 18 minutes for the ship to sink with 1198 dead and 128 of those were Americans. The authors point out that it was a lucky shot; it hit just the exact right spot which caused the ship to sink so fast. Lusitania was owned by the British company Cunard and the Captain and crew were British. She ship set sail from New York to Liverpool in June of 1915.
Johnny Heller did an excellent job narrating the book.

Informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I truly enjoyed this book. I had no idea of all the attitudes surrounding Lusitania sinking. I have long searched for a young family of four along with their nanny, who were supposed to be aboard as 2nd class passengers. While not located yet, this book illustrates the confusion of those aboard. I would enjoy the opportunity to dive the remains.

Things I Never Knew

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It really tells an amazing story of the rise and the downfall of the Lusitania, from the sinking of the Lusitania it was a really good story to hear.

Great book and amazing story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.