WWI entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. Her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack.

Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game. As the Lusitania made its way toward Liverpool, a German U-boat stalked it, and an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked the U-boat in turn.  An array of forces all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history.  It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster whose intimate details and true meaning have long been obscured by history.

This book club meets the second Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm in the Boardroom. Anyone is welcome to join us!