As with Devil in the White City, Larson does a fantastic job relying on original sources to paint a vivid picture of events from more than 100 years ago. Direct quotes - from journals, letters, articles, trial transcripts - make this work of non-fiction read like a novel. On a few occasions I wondered how he could possibly know w/certainty that something happened the way he said it did - but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book at all.

Even if you think you know the broad outlines of what happened to the Lusitania - the Germans torpedoed it, the Americans eventually joined WWI - this book gives you so much more background about the series of events that led up to the sinking of the boat and its aftermath. There are a few loose ends and inferences that are intriguing but unresolved - not because Larson didn't chase down the leads but because there are some things we'll just never know.

Great read.