The sinking of the Lusitania : unravelling the mysteries

Much of great value has already been written about the Lusitania and its tragic demise off the Old Head of Kinsale. Regrettably, some writers have chosen to cloud the story in fiction and then pass off the fruits of their imaginations to the reader as facts. Such writers have realised the magnetic power of sensationalism to attract the reader’s attention, and have shown much flair in inventing bizarre stories around the great liner; the mixture of fact and fiction written about the Lusitania has tended to leave the reader bewildered and confused. These issues will be addressed, and in doing so, will unravel many of the mysteries surrounding its history. In portraying the story of the Lusitania against its wartime background, the fog of confusion is lifted from the otherwise inexplicable actions taken by the Cunard Company and the British Admiralty. In May 1915, the RMS Lusitania, then the world's fastest liner, departed from New York. Seven days later she was torpedoed off the Irish coast with the loss of 1,198 lives. Suspected by the Germans of carrying clandestine munitions to Britain, the great ship steamed into a fatal encounter with the German submarine U-20. One of the largest naval disasters in history, it was a factor in bringing America into the First World War. Patrick O'Sullivan presents the complete story of the Lusitania a. air, exploring the cover-ups and the theories on what caused the baffling second explosion. His meticulous research reveals the most compelling explanation to date. This is a fascinating account of one of the First World War's most reported-on atrocities.